Winter on the Sisters

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This might come across as a bit melodramatic.  I know if my brother were to read it he’d just roll his eyes.  Good thing he never reads my blog.

My weeklong stay-cation ended with an overnight trip to Utah.  Unfortunately, I could only stay one night and had to come home Saturday morning.  Even though the rest of my Wyoming family headed to Utah for the night, I had to to get some things done at home.  After stopping in Evanston to watch my youngest niece play a school basketball game, I headed home by myself. 

The sky had been overcast and the wind blowing when I left Utah.  Early in the morning, I received a text from my sister-in-law informing me it was sunny at home.  We met in Evanston and watched the game and I switched vehicles with my dad.  He took my SUV to Utah and I drove his Toyota Corolla home.  When I arrived in Evanston, the weather was wintry but decent.  But when I left an hour later, it took a turn for the worse.  The wind picked up velocity and snow started to fall.  At least, it tried to fall despite the heavy wind.  All this made for unpleasant driving conditions. 

I am a Wyoming girl.  A little snow and 50+ mile per hour winds can’t deter me.  I really needed to get home.  Besides, I’ve driven in much worse weather.  So I left my family and headed east while they continued west. 

Just east of Evanston, I-80 travels over three hills known locally as the Sisters.  Keep in mind, Evanston is already at 6700 feet.  So, the Sisters are more than mere hills.  During winter this part of I-80 can become treacherous to travel over.  There are gates on either side of the hills and when they are down the interstate is closed to traffic.  Just Thursday morning the road was closed due to high winds preventing me from going to Utah as planned.

I made it over the first Sister and wisps of fog started to sweep the road.  Normally, it’s small patches and can be driven through.  As long as the driver doesn’t panic and do something stupid (ie slam on brakes) fog can be navigated through safely. 

I started to climb the second sister and the fog became denser.  The combination of snow and wind had left the road slick.  My palms became sweaty as I realized I could see less and less in front of me.  Finally, the only thing I could make out was the back of a semi.  And then it disappeared.  I looked down at the road so that I could keep my car between the lines.  The lines disappeared.  I couldn’t see anything.  And to make matter worse, the fog wasn’t lifting.  Get to the right, Lee, the thought came to me as sure as if I heard someone commanding me.  I obeyed.

A semi passed me on the left and threw more snow and ice on my window.  That wasn’t helpful.  I didn’t even see it coming up behind me.  I’m not sure if it saw me or not before it passed me.  This was a predicament.  I crept along at 10mph.  My only salvation was occasional glimpses of the lines dividing the lanes.  I thought about pulling over and waiting for the fog to lift.  But if I didn’t get far enough over I’d be pummeled from behind by another vehicle.  And if I did get far enough over, in my dad’s car, I’d run the risk of getting stuck.  There was no choice.  I had to keep inching forward and hope everybody behind me was doing the same.

This next part should be filed under the bad timing file.  A couple of weeks ago, my officemate shared the story that added to my jitteriness.  A former co-worker’s daughter was decapitated on the highway when she slammed into the back of a semi.  The gruesome scene ran non-stop in my head as I struggled to see.  If I picked up speed, I ran the risk of coming up on a semi too fast to stop especially with slick roads.  However, somebody could come up behind me and run into the same trouble.  I saw the scene play out in detail both ways.  Either way didn’t end pleasant for me.

I thought of a conversation with my brother the other day.  It was one of those talks that took a weird, morbid turn and focused on death.  “I’m not afraid to die,” I boldly claimed.  “Just afraid of dying.”  Was this a test to see if I meant it?  I said a prayer, “Please help me know what to do,” I asked Heavenly Father.  I’m ashamed to admit it, but I even started to cry.  But I quickly stifled it.  Breaking emotionally wouldn’t do me any good at the moment.  “Momma,” I called out, “help me.”

Turn on your lights.  The headlights automatically come on but I needed to make myself visible from behind also.  Hazard lights!  Where were the hazard lights?  I felt for the button with my right hand as much as I dared while taking one hand off the wheel.  I couldn’t find the button.  “Please,” I begged one more time. 

Look on the console.  I looked at the buttons for the air-conditioner and heater.  There, right next to the wheel, was the button for the hazard lights.  I pushed it and hoped for the best.  Another truck passed me and I noticed its lights were flashing.  However, the whole thing was swallowed up in fog – form and lights – about ten feet in front of me.  “Please,” I said again.  “I don’t want my family to go through this now.”

Obviously, I made it through the ordeal.  Once I got to the other side of the far Sister, the fog started to lift and the roads were dry.  I pulled over at a rest stop.  I couldn’t help myself, I broke down emotionally.  My hands were shaking and I still had another hour to travel before I reached home.  By the time I pulled into my driveway I had become physically ill. 

I don’t know why this drive affected me so much.  It’s not like I haven’t driven in bad weather before.  But even as I type this I’m shaking.  Two things to sum up: one, prayers are answered.  Don’t tell me they aren’t.  And two, it really isn’t my time to go. Seriously.

My Stay-cation Recap

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I took the week off from work.  My hope was that I’d be less grumpy and more motivated.  Did I complete my goal? Eh.  Not only was my mental health a factor but I also had a whole list of to-do’s.

  • Clean and organize the computer room, clean the basement, clean the living room, okay clean the house in general.  Did I finish this?  Nope.  Didn’t even start.  But I thought about it often while wading through piles in the basement. However, I did clean out my mom’s closet and drawers.  After that, my heart wasn’t into doing much more cleaning.  Okay, okay, I was lazy.
  • Finish the New Beginnings preparations.  I’m in charge of the hand-out and program.  Did I finish this?  If you think of it in terms as “ready to hand out” then technically no, they aren’t finished.  I think I got a good start though. But I’m hoping to gather more supplies when I go to Salt Lake tomorrow.
  • The dreaded, never-ending L word.  Did I finish this?  I am happy to report the laundry is caught up and even ironed.  However, my clothes are part of the mess I need to pick up in the basement.  I need to clean out my closet before I can put everything in its place.  So, this can fall into the yeah-no category.
  • Pamper myself.  Did I do this?  I used my gift certificate for a free massage my friends gave me for my birthday (um, in August).  And, I got my hair done.  However, I never got my day of sleeping I desired so much.
  • Young Women related business.  Did I do this?  We did a potluck for our activity on Tuesday night and I fixed my Momma’s BBQ chicken.  I’m so counting that.   I tried several times to order the posters the girls made weeks (all right months) ago.  But my files are corrupt.  Go figure!  Walgreen’s was having a 40% off sale on prints.  I’ll just have to take them into Staples on Saturday and pay. so. much. more.
  • Go to the temple.  Did I do this?  Weather permitting, I’m going to Utah today so that I can attend the temple (I haven’t been since October).  I was supposed to go yesterday but we had some pretty high winds Wednesday night.  It wreaked some havoc in our community and the roads looked iffy to me yesterday.  I’ve heard some rumors we hit 80mph.  That’s right, 80.  This was impressive until I read this article on MSNBC.   Did I mention I’ve surfed the internet a lot this week? 
  • As long as I’m mentioning the internet, I also checked out this video.  You know that mama E comes to the waterhole and is saying something along the lines of, “Quit messing around.  The herd is getting ready to move.  Of all the days to screw around and fall into this pit you had to pick today.  I told you not to get your trunk dirty!”  At least, that’s what it looks like to me when she’s pacing back and forth.  But then she has to get in and get wet to help her kid out.  Typical.
  • Goof off.  Did I do this?  I managed to go see a movie on Monday (matinee no less!).   Since I didn’t travel yesterday I spent the day reading the Hunger Games.  Now I can see the movie next month.  That is one messed up book.  Not the writing, just the story line.  It’s so disturbing. I can hardly wait to read the next two in the series.  Ah, to have that kind of talent.
  • Tonight I get to have dinner with my sister and her daughter.  Tomorrow I will go home and finish New Beginning preparations (I kinda have to since it is on Sunday).  And I will organize the computer room.  I will.  I will. I probably will.  I’ll try.  I might.  We’ll see. Mmm, maybe.
  • Magically become less grumpy.  Did I accomplish this?  Too soon to tell but early reports indicate a rise in grumpiness.  Oops!  I thought for sure this would work.   I think I’m gonna need another week…

My Downfall: Suspense and Secrets

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Sometime during the first week of last July my brother mentioned there were “Changes coming” that could affect Girls’ Camp.  When I asked for more information, he smiled and said, “You’ll have to wait.”  What the heck?!  First of all, I was enjoying my state of obliviousness.    Just let me reside there permanently, please.  Second, why mention anything if you can’t divulge details?  He realized immediately what he had done and clamped down.  No information would leak from him.  From that point forward, that is.

The damage had been done.   My mind raced with possibilities.  Would there be a new ward?  A new stake?  A new temple?   Okay, those last two were a stretch but that’s how my mind works.  Was somebody being released?  Why would that person be released right before camp?  Oh, the possibilities!

 I tried to force myself not to think about it.  I attempted to focus on other things.  But in the still of the night, his statement came fluttering back into the forefront of my brain.  “Changes coming.”  What could they possibly be? 

A couple of weeks later I found out.  Two wards in a neighboring town were going to a different stake.   The Stake Young Women President lived in one of those wards.  A new Stake Young Women Presidency would need to be called.  However, the stake leaders waited until after camp so it ended up not affecting Girls’ Camp. 

Two things bothered me about his little tease.  One, I can’t stand suspense.  I like being surprised.  I really do.  However, there is one small stipulation before anyone out there throws me a surprise party.  Surprise me but don’t tell me you’re going to surprise me.  The suspense just about kills me.  Seriously. 

Here’s an example. I blamed my pea-sized attention span for the reason I don’t read anymore.  After reflecting on this matter further though, I have come to a different conclusion.  My lack of reading is because I can’t wait for the conclusion.  There is no leisurely reading with me.  I drop everything else so that I can read.  So that I can find out the ending.

That’s why I’ve started reading the ends of books first.  Am I going to like this book?  Is this book worth investing my time?  I just borrowed the Hunger Game series from a friend.  She only gave me the first book though.  I had to text her today and ask, “Am I going to like how this series ends?!”  She doesn’t understand who she’s dealing with because she threw this big log on the fire, “Possibly.”  That had me worried so I continued,  “Aack!” Which translates to:  what did you get me into?  Then I begged, “Um, can I borrow the last book for a few minutes?” Long enough for me to read the end should be sufficient.  She responded with a text and I’m pretty sure it was accompanied with an eye rolling on her end.  “The person who borrowed it last is still reading it,” she explained.  And referring to the end she responded, “You’ll like it.”  Okay, it’s no sneak peak at the ending but it sufficed.  I’ll keep reading.

I’m glad my brother didn’t divulge anything else because of reason two, I can’t keep a secret.  If he would have told me, I would have started the grapevine.  It’s not like I want to be a blabber-mouth.  People just have a way of getting information from me.  It’s usually with a well-crafted, “Hi, how are you?”  And I spill.  Tidbits of information, especially juicy ones, just swell inside me.  If I don’t release them, via blabbing, they will cause me to explode.  And that would be gross.

My mom, bless her heart, was the same way.  It drove me crazy.  I used to complain about her not keeping all conversations in confidence.  There were some she kept very well.  But not all.  I suppose it was inevitable after all my complaining and whining that I ended up just like her.  I just don’t have a filter until after the fact.  That’s usually when I realize, “Probably shouldn’t have told you that.” 

Let me clarify, I can keep a secret.  I’ve done it before.  It just about kills me and I prefer not to have to.  Here’s the disclaimer portion of this blog:  This mainly applies to gossipy type stuff.  When someone vents or unloads, I file that in my lockdown compartment in my brain.  It doesn’t get out.  I am trustworthy with personal information, just not so great in the gossip department.  So please, do not include me in the gossip circle.

For these two reasons, Christmas time is absolutely torture on me.  Not only do I have the suspense of waiting to see what’s in the packages with my name on them, but I also have to keep secrets.  I buy gifts.  I can’t tell.  Other people buy gifts for loved ones and hide them in my closet.  I have to remember not to blab what is being hidden there.  Sometimes it’s a very delicate situation.  I should start taking a vow of silence from Thanksgiving until Christmas day just to be safe.

I just looked over what typed and I probably said too much.  But what else is new?  Case in point.

I’m No Ebert

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I am not a movie reviewer.  I like what I like and sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason (lookin at you  Mummy 1 and 2).  In fact, I usually don’t like to disclose my favorite movie list because I’m pretty easily swayed.  What if I tell you one of my favorite movies and you tell me you hate it?  Then you proceed to tell me why you don’t like it.  It ruins my movie because now I see the same flaws.  Yep, I’m that easily influenced on some things.  So, I usually don’t like to discuss such things as movies, books, people in general, clothes, music, politics… You get the idea.

But I belong to Blockbuster.com and the darn queue keeps getting hungry.  Greedy little thing keeps sending me notices in my email begging for contributions.  I’d let it starve but I’m paying $9.53 a month to sustain it.  Why do I pay it?  Blockbuster automatically withdraws money from my account around the 9th of each month.  If I cancel any time before that, I basically lose money because I won’t get a refund for any unused portion.  So, the trick is, I need to cancel on the 8th so that I feel like I get my money’s worth.  I usually remember I want to cancel on the 10th.  Doesn’t make sense?  Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to make sense to you, only to me.  And it does, so everything is fine.

Back to the story, I have this Blockbuster membership and a very greedy queue.  Although, I don’t watch as many movies at home as I used to.  When I was younger, I could literally watch movies all day.  But I’m older and my attention span is now pea-sized.  Plus, I enjoy actually going to the movies.  Especially matinees.   If I get to go to the theater in the middle of a weekday, that means I’m not at work.  Yay for me! 

Lately, I’ve seen few movies and I thought I’d give just a quick overview of what I liked and didn’t like.  Keep in mind, some of the movies I had no intention of ever seeing.  I just have to keep the queue satisfied.

Eh:  I’ll start with today’s choice.  Bubba, T, and I went to see Chronicle at the theater (a matinee no less – thank you very much Presidents!)  I wanted to see this movie a couple of weeks ago but got out-voted.  More about that in a second.  As for the movie, I was disappointed.  Probably because my oldest niece, MM, warned me right before I left that “It was disturbing” (told you, easily influenced). I think she meant boring.  It was a long 90 minutes.  I’m still waiting for the plot to take off…

Eh:  Last night I watched Water for Elephants.  I had to concentrate very hard to type the name right.  For some reason, I want to call it Like Water for Elephants.  Not sure where that came from.  This was a queue filler.  I played solitaire for the first half of the movie.  Talked with MM for part of it.  Looked at Facebook for a portion.  And wondered why Robert Pattinson is considered cute (sorry Edward fans).  He kind of has an odd look about him.  Plus, I had to visit imdb.com to see how much older Reese Witherspoon is than him (10 years if you’re wondering).  And while on that site, I had to see the actress’ name that played Barbara Jean on Reba (Melissa Peterman).  That stemmed from a previous discussion that resurfaced during the movie.  But the movie did have a happy ending.

Yay:  The weekend before Valentine’s Day my friend asked me if I wanted to see a movie.  I chose Chronicle.  But it was her turn to pick and she wanted to see The Vow.  I didn’t really want to go to a chick flick the weekend before V-Day (dumb holiday) with another chick.  But I acquiesced.  I’m glad I did.  I enjoyed the movie and the fact that it was based on a true story, made it even better.  Plus, Channing Tatum isn’t exactly hard to look at for two hours.  Even if I do keep calling him Tatum Channing.  The lesson I learned from this, the lower the expectation I have for a movie, the more I enjoy it.

Eh: Eat. Love. Pray.  Another queue filler.  I discovered within the first five minutes that I wasn’t going to like this movie.  I wrote one of my blogs while it was on.  Here’s my take of it: “Oh woest me, I’m unhappy.  I must break my commitment I made and go find myself in a land far, far away.” Boo!

Eh:  I don’t blame the movie since it was based on the boring section of the book.  But Harry Potter 7A was a snoozer!

Yay:  Harry Potter 7B, however, was based on the more exciting part of the book.  Although the movie takes some liberties from the text that I have to adjust to.  I don’t remember Harry hugging Voldemart and jumping off the ledge.  And my favorite part of the book (the WAR scene) was omitted.  No matter, it wrapped the series up nicely and, incidentally, was the last movie I watched with my mom.

Eh-Yay:  I saw the first movie.  I know I did.  But I can’t really tell you much about it.  When I went to see the second movie, I was kind of lost for the first half.  Eventually, I liked it, more or less.  Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows had a lively action sequence and an ending that had me wondering for a second, (SPOILER) “Did they seriously just finish off this series with the second movie?”  I only wondered for a second, though.

Eh:  The ending of Captain America ruined the whole movie for me.  I don’t care if the powers-that-be are making a movie and he’s needed in it.  Boo for an ending that isn’t an ending so that another movie can be made about the beginning of a different tale.

Yay:  I was iffy going into Thor.  It turned out to be one of my better choices.  I became acquainted with Chris Hemsworth’s fine, um, acting ability.  This was another movie I went into with low expectations.  The previews weren’t impressive.  Thor looked like he was the product of a drunken make-up artist.  But then I saw him in context and I have to agree with Jane, “It’s a good look.”  Sure, it has another set-up ending but I saw this first.  It wasn’t a predictable pattern yet so I can forgive this ending. 

Those are just some of the movies I’ve seen the last few months.  You probably don’t agree, but don’t tell me!  You’ll ruin my yay movies.