Anniversaries

Well, today was July 24th and nothing happened. For Mormons, it is usually a big holiday and I miss the hullabaloo. The parades, the rodeos, the programs, the BBQs, you name it, I miss it. There are quite a few of us here in Montana, but its not like living in Utah or Southern Nevada. There will be a program and ice cream social or something like that on Saturday evening, but that's it. I will go and I'm sure I will enjoy it, but I still miss all the rest of it. (For those of you who don't know, it's the anniversary of the first Mormon pioneers reaching the Salt Lake Valley.) Part of the difference is the change in society. When I was young, we still had people around who remembered the hardships that the pioneers endured. My grandmother's grandparents were some of those pioneers and she kept that sense of history alive for me, but the farther we get from that generation, the more that gets forgotten. I have tried to keep that history alive for my children with the telling of it, and by participating in the festivities every year, but I can still see it dying. Don't get me wrong. They are proud of those ancestors who crossed the plains. a few by the side of Brigham Young, but those people have been gone a long time, and my kids don't see a lot of relevance between the two lifetimes.

The other reason I think we don't have the big celebrations is that everyone is so busy today. It takes a lot of time and a lot of work to put together those events. And it takes a lot of people to make them possible, too. People who don't have the time. Life is just rush, rush, rush nowadays and there doesn't seem to be enough time in a day to do what needs to be done, without adding frivolities. At least some people think of it that way. I, on the other hand, think that it's important to keep the past alive, so we never forget where we came from and what our ancestors went through to give us what we enjoy today.

Okay, enough of that. How about this instead? This Monday will be my 35th wedding anniversary. 35 years! WOW! My husband and I are one of the few couples from our graduating class to still be together after all this time. We have never been married to anyone else; we were married right out of high school. We have five children and 14 grandchildren, and we're still sane. At least relatively so. Every time I tell one of my children that I'm losing my mind, they tell me you can't lose what you never had, so maybe I don't really know what sanity is! But I'm still here, and I guess that's what counts. I love my husband very much. He is my rock, what keeps me going when times are tough. And they are really tough right now. We are having some real financial difficulties, and I don't know right now if we'll make it through, but we keep pluggin'. It's all we can do, and as long as I have him by my side, I'll be OK. I think we'll probably go to dinner and a movie for the big day. My daughter is off that day, so I won't be watching the babies, and we will be able to take some time for us. That will be nice. Then again, we may just decide to stay home and lounge around. I don't know. We'll see.

I'm still trying to get the ski tube hat done. My hands have been really bad lately, plus I have been doing the arts and crafts project every week at the library for the summer reading program, so it's not getting done very fast. Some days I can barely get anything done, my hands hurt so bad. I promise it will get done, though, and soon, because I want to share it with you before its to late to make them for winter. Oh yeah....I forgot to tell you that the Pineapple Lush Angel food Cake was really good. I made it with sugar free and fat free everything, and it was still really good. Try it! You'll like it! I'm also trying to lose weight. Again. Almost two years ago, I lost 45 pounds, but I've put most of it back on again. I lost it by going to Weight Watchers, and I can't seem to do it again on my own. I need the motivation of the meetings and the members to keep me going. I did find out that we have a WW meeting right here in Stevi, so I think I will have to find the money to join again. I'm so tired of being fat. And I felt better, both physically and mentally, when I was thinner. I need to lose a lot more than the original 45 lbs. but that's a starting goal. Then I will worry about the other 30 lbs. after that. Maybe if I blog about my struggle, I will feel accountable, and will be a good girl. We'll see if it helps at all.

Tonight is going to be short, because it's now 2:28 am and I'm tired! I'm going to take myself to bed and see if I can get to sleep. I usually lie awake for an hour or two before I finally drop off, but I'm pretty tired today, so we'll see what happens. Here's another little tidbit I heard at church the other day: "Don't ever permit yourself to do anything that you wouldn't want to see you children do." I think that's pretty profound. What about you? Call a family member and remind them of how much you love them. 'Night, Gramma G.