Quotes of the Week

"Tough times never last, but tough people do." 
-- Robert H. Schuller

"It's not about what you've lost. It's about what you still have that matters." 
-- Susan Gale 

"When you truly love yourself, you don't have enemies. They may hate you but you're too big to hate them back." 
-- Tony Gaskins 

"Life is a road. You'll get over the potholes, even if you have to pull yourself out. Yes, those hills go up and down, but you'll always level out." 
-- Author Unknown 

Quotes of the Week

"Be of service. Whether you make yourself available to a friend or co-worker, or you make time every month to do volunteer work, there is nothing that harvests more of a feeling of empowerment than being of service to someone in need." 
-- Gillian Anderson

"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things." 
-- Winston Churchill 

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." 
-- Mark Twain 

"The present is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope." 
-- Frank Lloyd Wright 

Glen's Reward After All That Work

Glen decided to treat himself to something fun to look forward to after the big moving, home-improvement trip came to an end. He was exhausted and was anxious to spend a few days just sitting. Doing nothing. Nothing except watching nonstop basketball games. In Vegas for the West Coast Conference Championship games.

Glen paid extra so he could get good seats close to center court. And just look at these "good seats" we got! They were smashed up against the back wall as if the whole row were an afterthought. 

Someone thought to themselves, "Hmmm. There is enough room to put in a row of stadium seats, and surely the paying customers won't realize they have been shortchanged a full foot of leg space. And surely the people sitting in front of them won't mind the back row's knees in their backs.

No exaggeration when I say there was only my hand-width of space between our chair cushion and the back of the chair in front of us. It was HORRIBLE!!!!!!!

Thankfully the women's games were general seating. Surprised to learn we chose not to sit in our assigned seats for those?!?

BYU women were on fire and won the game.

Let's face it--Glen was looking forward to the games and I was looking forward to the buffets. Our favorite is the Wynn buffet.

You can tell the difference in Glen's plates and my plates. Mine are filled with colorful food and his are plain and mostly meat.

WOW! It looks like we ate a whole lot after posting all those plates of food. Well let's face it--we did! It was our only meal of the day.

We like that the tournament takes the Sabbath day off. We decided to attend a Spanish-speaking fast and testimony meeting to practice what we will be doing on our mission. I could understand some of the words. Still can't understand whole sentences very often. Feels like I still have a whole lot more to learn.

Out of all these fancy desserts...

...I picked sorbet and he picked mint chocolate chip gelato. He did surprise me with the chocolate-covered pretzel stick.

Another favorite thing for me to do while in Vegas is go to see the display at the Bellagio Conservatory and Gardens. This time it was a Chinese theme.

The framed plant artwork is usually magnificent, but this one was quite boring and disappointing.

It just wouldn't be Sunday without popcorn and candy. When we checked in we were given coupons for free popcorn from the movie theater located right there in The Orleans Casino where we were staying. We brought the candy from home.

The next morning Glen donned his "lucky socks" (which had been handed out to the fans at the last game he attended at BYU).

 The socks proved their luck and the BYU women won several games. Too bad they didn't win the championship game.

Another buffet--this time at the Rio. It was a bit disappointing to us, so we decided to scout out a whole new buffet for the next day.

 Unfortunately BYU men lost to Gonzaga. It seems like Gonzaga wins every year. Sheesh!!

Off we went to Cravings Buffet at The Mirage. We had never been there before and had a nice time trying out a new spot to eat.

Glen bugged the front desk for another coupon and this time upgraded to a large popcorn for an extra $1.80. He thought that was a wonderful deal.

Despite our horrible seats, when we were sitting in better seats and able to stretch out our legs a bit, it was a pretty enjoyable trip. Glen's poor, aching body was recovering--all except his smashed thumb which was causing him continual grief.

We were both happy the relaxing trip came after the hard-working trip. Good planning!!!

Ben and Haley Move to Washington--With a Little Help From Me and a Lot of Help From Glen

After a few uncertain days of wondering if their plans to buy a townhouse in Washington was actually going to happen, things worked out and Ben and Haley's home was purchased.

Now all it needed was for its inhabitants to move in. That required a little bit of help. Like, say, someone to drive the moving van to Maple Valley, Washington, so they could drive their cars to their new place of residence.

I was a little sad to see Yakima get closer and closer and then we passed right by it because we didn't have time to stop and see Mark and Michelle and their family. So close, yet so far away!

But onward and forward we kept going. We had to get to Home Depot and get all the boxes of laminate flooring purchased and hauled to the house because the boxes had to sit in the house for a couple of days to acclimate before the installation could happen. Sorry Mark! That's my excuse! It seemed like a good one.

I was giving thanks all through the day that I had been able to talk Glen into leaving after dinner the night before so we could break up the drive into two days. It was in hopes my feet wouldn't swell too much during the long drive. I propped them up as much as I could.

Destination achieved! Laminate boxes carried in! By Glen. All by himself. No Ben and Haley. Then Glen started unloading the truck. All by himself. Almost. He needed Ben's help with the motorcycle and the bedroom furniture. We were so happy when Ben and Haley arrived safely late that evening. It had been a very long day of driving for them and it was especially very tiring the last hour or so.

They were happy to get there and we were happy to take one of their cars instead of the moving van to our hotel.

Next morning there was a job to do. A big job! All the flooring on the main floor was going to be changed to laminate flooring. The linoleum in the entryway, half bath and kitchen didn't need to be ripped up. The padding and laminate could be laid right over it.

The carpet in the living and dining room area was ripped out which made the floor in those rooms lower than the entryway and kitchen. UGH!!

Thankfully we hadn't yet returned the moving van when the discovery was made, which came in handy hauling all this plywood from Home Depot to their house.

Not only did Ben and Haley have flooring on their list of things to do immediately, but they wanted to paint the whole main floor. They began painting and got the living and dining room area painted while we were there.

Meanwhile, back to the flooring project...the plywood was getting put down.

It was a very noisy project and we were all happy when Glen gave us a warning to cover our ears whenever he turned on the saw.

I'm sure the neighbors appreciated the late-night sawing and hammering.

Speaking of hammering... Glen had to take a little rest after he didn't move his thumb quick enough and his hammer made contact with it instead of the nail. Ben and Haley took over the hammering after that little accident which caused him, and continues to cause him, much pain.

The next morning we were greeted with these two wearing their safety vests. Made us laugh. They had been rummaging through their many boxes of stuff in the garage and came across them and decided to don them for our enjoyment. Safety first! No matter what the job!

Lunch break. That was one of my jobs. Acquiring food for the workers to eat to keep up their strength. Another job was washing out all the drawers and cupboards. Breaking down the many empty laminate boxes and clearing up any other trash and sweeping were my jobs as well.

I also went on the Home Depot runs--and there were more than several of those. Something available at this particular store was dog carts. Complete with carpet squares in the cart for the dogs to have a more comfortable ride around the store.

Oh happy day when the bathroom got completed. It took a whole lot of cutting to get that small space and the space between the two closets completed.

Ben and Haley were flabbergasted to learn the bright-colored foam padding that goes under the laminate cost way more than the laminate itself.

 Isn't that flooring looking nice?!??!??

They worked so hard to get the whole thing laid before we went back to the hotel that evening.  

The only thing left the next day was the kitchen. Sound easy enough? NOT!!! Another small area requiring many cuts was going to take way more time than we had. Our flight only allowed us to stay until noon.

The guys were working hard and Ben was gearing up for finishing it on his own after we left.  And then it happened. Glen broke the news to Ben and Haley that he had been able to switch our flight to a late one that evening so we could stay and get the floor finished.

HALLELUJAH!!! That calls for some lunch! Lunch lady to the rescue!

Another job for the odd job lady was cleaning off the stove and the refrigerator. They were clean inside, but once pulled out from their cubbyholes, it soon became apparent more work was needed on them.

Job completed!! What a satisfying feeling to be able to stay to see the floor finished. Glen was able to help get the toilet put back in place and get the doors rehung. All Ben and Haley need to do is finish painting and then do the baseboards. We will be anxious to get the report of that being done and hopefully soon.

Along with the thumb casualty, Glen suffered another one. He spent so much time on his knees he ripped holes in the knees of his pants. And not just one pair, but both pairs of the only jeans he owns. Ben's knees are looking extremely red and painful as well.

Another job for lunch lady/trash lady/cleaning lady/errand lady. This time Haley joined me while the guys were working in the small space in the kitchen. We went to Kohl's to buy Glen some new jeans. He didn't have any pants to wear on the plane home.

Glen had set the goal for all the work to be done in time for us to go to a nice restaurant for a good dinner. He was tired of fast food meals and wanted everyone to relax and enjoy themselves before we went to the airport.

We were close to a couple of furniture stores, so we wandered through them to see if there were any couches Ben and Haley wanted to buy.

Ben was very eager to buy a couch so they could quit using camp chairs as their only form of seating on the main floor of their new home.

It will be fun for them to work on finishing up their home improvement projects and then start acquiring the necessary furniture and other items to help make this house their home.