Why I Make My Bed

There are two important times for your house to be clean:

1. Christmas
2. Vacation

The reason for the first is obvious. "Santa doesn't come to a messy house."

Seat belts for car accidents. Life jackets for boat accidents. Remember: "Seat backs in their full and upright position. In case of a water landing your seat cushion may become a floatation device." Low calorie, low fat and low sodium. Yes, potential death is a real motivator.... but not as motivating as potential public embarrassment.

If you are in a fatal accident while on vacation the Relief Society will "come in". This "coming in" will include judgement on what kind of a person you were, based on how clean your house is at the moment of tragic and sudden death.

Yes, the Relief Society will see if you have left any dishes in the sink or failed to make your bed. The "tsk-tsk" of a Relief Society President who had to "come in" only to find your laundry was piled up would never let you rest in peace.

This embarrassment would live in infamy. It would be unfortunate to be remembered as "that woman" who left her home a mess when she left on vacation.

Let this be a warning; "Yea, a reminder for this generation". Wear clean underwear and mop the floor on the way out.

If I am in an accident while on vacation would someone please "come in" and clean my office before the Relief Society does!

Making Lemonaid Outside the Lemonaid Stand

I am a good lemonade maker!
Give me a lemon, or most any "fruit" and I can create some sort of juice. I can take a problem and then find a solution, if not immediately then at least eventually I can find a way to improve it. I do not take full credit of course because Dan and I come up with a lot of this together...here are some examples.

Problem: Traffic at the airport is insane. There are "Airport Nazi's" blowing whistles for you to move on and then you have to take the 1 mile loop to come back. Cars have been lined up a quarter mile at times. The cell phone lot is in a dark, deserted place that I try to avoid.
Solution: We have a two level deck with departures upstairs and baggage claim for arrivals downstairs. While the whistles, honks and sighs of frustration emanate from down below....I am relaxing smugly at the curb upstairs. There are maybe 10 other enlightened souls up with me waiting for their spouses to arrive. Few if any passengers are departing at these peak arrival times so I can park and relax until Dan comes. If he has checked luggage he simply rides the elevator to the upper level.

Problem: How to get American goods while living in Italy on our mission.
Solution: Parents come with empty suitcases to pick up their missionaries. Dan would call one or two as needed to ask them to bring some things with them. We ordered the items on the Internet and had them sent to the parents home. Sometimes we asked parents to buy things if we couldn't order it online and then we reimbursed them upon their arrival. This is a partial list of the items brought to us...6x8' area rugs (2), nylons, items won on eBay, lap top (twice:), favorite candy, "underwear", 1000's of Cd's (only got nailed with tariff's once), decongestants (TONS! we sold them at cost to the missionaries) and onion soup mix. None of the other MP's had thought of this.

These are clear examples of making lemonade outside the lemonade stand, but it's really the small, everyday solutions that I come up with that sometimes amaze even me! I've even figured out something to list as a talent on the Relief Society surveys: making lemonade!

Why Sheep Get Lost

The purpose of the Primary lesson was to teach how Jesus is our shepherd. We are his sheep and should follow Him. After explaining what a shepherd does I thought I would teach the 5-6 year-olds how to be good sheep and follow the shepherd with an object journey.
"We will be quiet sheep," I optimistically instructed my 7 sheep. "I will be the shepherd." I lined them up in twos. One boy was asked to be the shepherd helper in the back to make sure all the sheep came.
I opened the door. Before I could step into the hall most of the sheep were halfway down to the chapel. The sheep who were paying attention came back and we waited for the others to notice they were astray. Our first stop was the library and we almost made it there together as a flock.
We continued outside because it was such a beautiful day and sheep love the sun. The flock scattered from the path and did not hear the voice of their shepherd. It was a lot like herding cats.
We came back into the building because clearly this was not going well. We stopped in the area between the inner and outer doors to continue the object lesson. There were only 7 children (I've had as many as 14) and I could hardly contain them within an enclosed 10x10 spot. "This is our sheepfold where we would stay for the night." The shepherd's helper was placed at one door and I was at the other. I told them that he was like the Bishop who helps Jesus. Each of them were given a wall - a commandment that would help them stay safe. "The shepherd will help you be safe if you stay together and listen to the shepherd."
I was frustrated. This was turning out to be a great lesson but no one was listening! The sheep were ignoring the shepherd and doing whatever they pleased.
Suddenly it all became very clear...this is the predicament the Savior is in. He can certainly not force the sheep to stay in the fold. He loves his sheep and does not want any of them to be lost...but they are just grazing and looking for green pastures to roam on their own.
This is why sheep get lost.
If we stray from the safety of the sheepfold we are prey for the wolves of the world. If we do not learn the voice of our Shepherd we will be distracted and not know which way to go. We need to PAY ATTENTION or the lessons will be over and we will end up coloring a picture instead of painting an eternal future.