Recipe For Motherhood Bliss

     Take one family, the Gospel and a home filled with love.

     Make dumplings sometimes ~
     Breastfeed your babies with the guidance of La Leche League ~
     Drink herbal teas for health ~
     Make your own herbal remedies, like cough syrup, for your family ~
     Do tie-dye ~
     Homeschool your children and read up on homeschooling enough beforehand and while doing it ~
     Go out for visits to the library and to Grampa and Gramma ~
     Use Gail Sforza Brewer's recipe book when you're pregnant ~
     Use a La Leche League recipe book when you're nursing ~
     Learn about your body ~

Little Mussel Maiden

     This is a tale of Little Mussel Maiden who ate so many mussels that she grew into a mussel.  End of story.
     Her mother told her no, but she would eat them.  Gradually, her face and her hair all grew mussel-like.  She was a great person though, and everyone loved her.
     One day she found a penny.  She put it into her mouth and it turned into a pearl.  Don't you do this though children.  Keep your teeth clean and white by brushing them and not putting pennies and other foreign substances in.
     One day a whale came by.
     "Hey, a mussel," he said.  "With a human body.  How curious,"  and swam off.

The End

Journal

     Today is a new day.  I like new days.  They're full of possibilities.  And I don't mean winning the lottery.

Playing Piano

     When you play, little ones, you can feel each note like connoisseurs of the music, don't you think?  (Look up "connoisseurs" in the dictionary, then you won't drive Mummy batty.)

Work, More Work

      I am happy to say that I have had a Faberge egg experience.  I awoke at 1.30a.m., sat up and read my scriptures, wrote the ending to my novel, read several other books, took a nap, about seven, typed up a few pages, washed windows and floors and mirrors and vacuumed, walked and ate lunch, worked like an eagle looking for mice in the forest to eat I did.  Now I'm done with the house-cleaning but it's back to the typing in a bit God willing if there's no power outage.  This is unusual for me because usually I'm a slow starter.

"Do, Don't Just Watch," I Said To Myself

     When I was a little toddler to when I was a teen, I liked to watch people do things.  On stage.  Like dance, sing, play-act and so on.  Then I got to thinking, I would like to do something myself.  Even if I was a failure at it, I would like to get up and perform.  End of story.
    

Letter To The Children

Dearest Children,

     How are you?  I hear you have had exams recently.  Did you get your marks back yet?  How did they go?  I used to dislike exams immensely.  I usually had hay-fever, which meant I couldn't concentrate because I was sneezing so hard and wound up failing a few.  Other than that I did fine you think, but no I didn't.  My math was the pits, at one point, I couldn't pass a math exam.  I couldn't find a job sometimes.  Like now.  I have been furiously writing to try and get something published.
     I love you, my chickadees.  All the best for a great day, Love and hugs,
     Mummyxxxxxooooooxxxxxoo

Journal

     This morning I went for a walk in my pajamas in the living room before starting up the stove for scrambled eggs on toast.  What a good meal that was!  Now I feel ready to go.  Isn't that amazing.

Recipe: Three Sauced Ham With Rice And Pita

     Here is a delicious recipe you can make with Mummy.  It takes quite a bit of washing up in the pan region but I'm sure you won't mind that as it's so good.
     Ingredients:
     1 pouch of gravy mix powder - 500grams of sour cream - 1 breakfast ham - 1 can tomato sauce - 1 cup rice - water - salt - 6 pita bread rounds

     Method:
     1.  Make the gravy, following the directions on the gravy mix pouch.
     2.  Warm the breakfast ham in the oven on 350F for one hour.
     3.   Warm the contents of tomato sauce can on medium low in a saucepan, opening the can carefully.
     4.  Bring rice to a boil with 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt, then cover and turn down to low for 15 minutes.
     5.  Make the pita bread if you are baking it from scratch, it is easy to make.  Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook has an easy recipe.  Otherwise use store-bought pita bread.
     6.  Assembly: When everything is ready, spread some gravy on each plate.  On top of that, place a dollop of sour cream.  On top of that place a slice of ham.  Pour tomato sauce on top.  Serve rice and pita bread on the side of the plates.

Tommy The Warthog And Cookie The Pig

     Tommy the warthog arrived for dinner at the home of Cookie the pig, all wet from the rain.   Cookie the pig fed him mush for dinner with sauces of various kinds.  Tommy the warthog was taken aback but said nothing unkind.  He was not used to this kind of dinner but helped himself to afters of it, with a slice of cheese from the fridge to help it go down.
      They produced a board game from the shelves of Cookie's home to play after dinner, one they both enjoyed.  Cookie suddenly quipped,
     "May I offer you a drink of herb tea, Tommy?"
     "No," Tommy felt like saying because he had already drunk so much water that day, but he was polite so he said yes.
     Then it got worse.
     "I would advise you to have the camomile," Cookie said.  "You could have the marigold blossoms, but they were rancid one time when I tried them."
      "I'll go for the camomile," said Tommy.
     The dinner conversation went on to discuss art, and then it was time to go.  It was all too much for Tommy, you think, but no, he'd been through this many times before, and he was used to it to some extent.
      "No wonder Cookie doesn't have many friends," he said.  "But I liked the painting on her wall.  Perhaps I'll buy it.  I wonder what it costs?  It looks like a five-year-old painted it, but we're good friends and that'll seal the friendship."
     Tommy came back with the money and Cookie didn't die of starvation from not having enough money, so some good came of that day, children.

The End

My own story

The Lorax says:
"Write your own story.
Don't write one about us.
Then everyone will be pleased
And there won't be any fuss."

There was a little boy
Who, every day,
Read his scriptures
And looked at the pictures
And prayed with Mama and Pa
And played his guitar
And went off to school
And acted cool
Refusing coffee and tea
Just like me
So he could a Mormon be.
There, that's my story!

Journal

     Yesterday I wrote my novel at an early hour.  I did dishes and laundry and played my guitar and piano.  I went shopping and attended Family Home Evening.  First we played darts before it started.  We had a lesson on choosing appropriate media from the booklet For The Strength Of Youth, where we recited the 13th Article of Faith and discussed how to choose a good movie.  We wanted to watch Miss Potter but that wasn't available, so we chose The Lorax.  It was good.

Journal

     Saturday was a busy day.  In the morning, my boys went out to learn about soil whilst I made Lazy Man's Cabbage Rolls.  A friend picked me up and ferried me in her car to the Stake Centre to clean it, but when we reached it the cleaning had already been done.  On to the next appointment.  I made hot dogs with Somerset my son, who learned how to boil hot dogs, then I took manuscripts to the post office to mail.  I did one other errand then met, or rather tried to meet with a friend but they had cancelled.  I bought envelopes and paper clips.  We ate supper and I attended a baptism which I enjoyed.  After that we attended a Miracles Fireside which was also enjoyable and I served ice cream sandwiches afterwards.

     To update you on my blog, I have added new parts to the stories of Tatlow The Sailor, Canine Friendly, and The Society Of Harpsichord Builders.

I Had Fun Dancing To The Fun Dance Rhythms

     Once upon a time, when I was a little girl in England, my parents took me up to town to Foyles' six storey high bookstore.  It was so fun.  The cashier on each floor was in a cage to protect her.  I went straight to the dance section and picked out a book from Brigham Young University called Fun Dance Rhythms. (This is a Mormon university, but I wasn't a Mormon at the time.) It contained instructions for many dances.  I was so excited.  I used it for homeschooling my children when I was a grown up.  I remember doing the Mambo with them, which they thought was hilarious!
      Another time, I went to the same bookstore, also as a little one and bought another dance book entitled
Jazz Dance which had a history of jazz dance (which I read) and instructions in Labannotation (which I still can't read) for many dances.
      I have had so much fun with dance and I hope you do too!

Journal

     I packed it in yesterday with writing a children's story manuscript to mail to a publisher.  (By that I mean I burned the candle at both ends, writing!)

Wasp, The Horse

     Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Joanne.  Now this Joanne is me, but I'm telling this from another person's point of view, so here goes.  Joanne had a horse, you think, but no, that hadn't come yet, but one day she will, because she'll want a horse in Heaven.  Other than that, she didn't have one.  She did however ride another horse and his name was Squirrel.  Now we have heard about this horse already on this website, but there was another horse one day and his name we shall say was Wasp, because that's what he was like, children.  Not that that was his name.  His name didn't suit him.  His name wasn't Frederick, but it was something like that.  Something nice.  But he wasn't a nice horse.  He was a rowdy, dowdy horse.  He was a hooter in Mormon terms.  (That's what they call not very nice people.)

     One day he ran away with Joanne on his back.  Joanne was only seven.  She didn't know how to ride hardly.  And it was Cornflake...Now was it Cornflake?  I can't remember who rode after Wasp and Joanne and stopped Wasp on another fast horse, but somebody kindly did and Joanne is still here today:D  And that is your story for today.

The End

I'm Like Percy Grainger

     I'm like Percy Grainger, the composer.  He ran between concerts.   I walk between manuscripts!

Miss You!

Dearest Children of my own,

     I hope you have a nice day today.  I won't see you till the weekend and I will miss you for sure!                    

     Yesterday I sallied forth in the pouring rain to mail a manuscript to a publisher.  I hope everything goes well.  We shall see.  How is your week going?  I love you.  Say hi to your Dad.

     Lots of love, see you soon, Mummyxxxxxooooooooxxxxxoo
  

My Story: Crying

     I cried for a year when I was 22, because nobody married me.

Story-time Again : Esay

      Well, I guess that's it for the Poetry Festival.
    
     Once upon a time there was a man who lived in the jungle of Buenos Aires.  Where Buenos Aires is, I don't know you think, but no, I've looked at a map and there must be a jungle at Buenos Aires somewhere, so this is about that jungle.
     The man's name was Esay.   He had shoes from Buenos Aires, so they were comfortable.  He lived in a hut, but had shoes fit for a king.
     He climbed up a tree and picked a pomegranate.  Do pomegranates grow on trees?  I have no idea, but I'm writing a story here, so bear with me.  I have always wanted to go to Buenos Aires, so this is my chance to go, in imagination to that wonderful spot.  He picked a pomegranate and it flew open and a bird flew out.  It said, "Why, it's Thursday of course."
     This all struck him as wonderful, as everything in Buenos Aires does.  The food is wonderful, the people are wonderful and the hilltops are wonderful.  Now if I find out Buenos Aires is flat, I'll really be up a creek.
     He taught the bird to speak English and that was his day, teaching the bird.  Goodbye, little children.

Royalty In The Horse Arena

      Once there was a horse named Amber.  Amber was a tip-top horse.  She did as she was told and was kind and gentle.
     Now, about the time this story started, a boy named Rossiter came along and rode Amber around the ring in the horse arena.  A horse arena is for showing off horses.  She was bright.  She was witty.  He was kind so she showed it all off and won an award.
      Can you do that, children?  Can you be kind to horses and other animals, and people too, so they do their best for you?  I can and I think you can, too!

Mountains Move When You Pray

Mountains move when you pray,
So say a prayer every day,
At the start and end of the day
And in between.
Then you'll never run aground
Is the truth,
And you'll be on the right road
All your life.
And if you ever should wander
Then you can always
Get back there
If you pray
If you pray
If you pray.
(And follow the instructions you get if you pray!)

I'm So Angry I Could Scream!

I'm so angry I could scream!
I'm so angry I could scream!
I'm so angry I could scream!
But I won't.

I won't tell you why
So don't ask.
I won't tell you why
So don't ask
But I'll scream
If you ask
So don't!

Kindness Is Most Becoming

As the years go by
Beauty fades often times
But kindness lives on
A wise adornment
To the soul.

Tuck In Your Seat Belts, Children

When you come to a new day
Everyday be sure and pray
That the Lord will grant to you
Safety and a good day too.

Work

If you put a lot of work
In preparation for a meal,
You may find
That they are pleased
With what you serve~
Do not stint
On baking cookies
For dessert,
Of course, you know.
Then with happiness
You'll glow
And you deserve to.~

2013 Black Beret Poetry Festival / Boing

"Boing" is a word 

I don't seem to use a lot.

I don't know why

I don't seem to do it.

But now I've got used to it,

I think I'll be using it.

Boing to you too,

My dear.

What I Do To Make Money

     Not much, you think, that's why I don't make any, it seems.  But God gave me a way to earn money, it just isn't very much.  Last year's tax return findings will reveal to the onlooker nothing, you think, but no they will show earnings from upholstery-making, fabric cutting, seat cover renting, packing and cleaning, and Christmas tree decorating.  There, now isn't that a fun life?  If only there were more of it.

Journal

     I overslept and didn't get to attend the Temple.  I was so disappointed.

Breaking My Fear Barrier To Making A Dress

     Now I have a fear barrier against making a dress.  I want to make a dress, but I don't want to.  The fabric is the most gorgeous I could find.  The pattern is wowee.  But somehow I just can't make it.  I go really slowly.  I delay, procrastinate that means.  Why?  Because I want to have no dress.  I don't want to be warm, you think, but no, I do, I just don't want to go out on a date which I will if I wear it.  Because it would attract a husband.  Then I would get married and have children and then they would grow up and go away and get married.  And come and see me again and everything would be alright, 
but it is that going away and getting married part that I delay making the dress about.  They'll come back and see me again and I'll be old, too old to make dresses.  So I'd better make that dress now, or I won't have a dress, but isn't that funny?  I realized what it is, this missing them before they even go away and get married...It is that I lost them several times when I was hospitalized in my first family and after and I regret that and wish it hadn't happened.

Breaking My Fear Barrier To Playing The Piano

     I have a desire to play but somehow I don't reach my potential all at once.  What is in the way?  Fear.  I want to play The Entertainer by Scott Joplin and Sevilla by Isaac Albeniz but somehow I can't get to the end of the piece.  I have to break through a fear barrier.  What is the fear?  The fear is that someday I'll complete those pieces, playing them I mean, and people will clap and I will completely fall apart because something tells me I can but I don't want to admit it incase I get great feelings about life.  Isn't that odd?

Story-time With The Black Beret

     Once upon a time there was a mime artist who eloped.  He went to great lengths to get away from the parents of the girl he had eloped with.
     They were kind to him, of course, and let him get away with it, you think, but no, they chided him in court.
     Why did they do this?  We don't know, but sometimes people do things like this when they don't want to admit that they make mistakes too.
     Oh, well, it couldn't have been any other way, because they needed space.  Sometimes people do.  The couple I mean.  Amen.

Journal

     My bed looked like a tornado path, this morning.  It does that, sometimes.

Police Officers In My Family

     I am told I am descended from a few police officers.  One was my grandfather George Morris who was also in the military police.  His father William Morris was also a police officer, and so was my step-great-grandfather (another Morris - my great-grandmother married another Morris, which was quite common in her area as there were so many Morrises.)  My step-great-grandfather was a police officer from Saskatchewan.
     On the other side of George's family I am also descended from a police officer, a Raeburn.  He kept a prisoner in his house.

Journal

     I've just finished reading a Charles Dickens novel.  What a great writer!  I couldn't understand much of it when I got about half way through, though, children, as the language was so archaic.  Take a dictionary with you when you read it, then you'll understand it.
     I've read Monica Dickens too, by the way, Charles Dickens' granddaughter, and her exploits and she's hilariously funny.
     Back to Charles Dickens - my mother said she read the Complete Works of Charles Dickens by the time she was eight years old.

Time-Wasters No More

     Children, I want to pass along a tip.  T.v. is not the main goal in life.
     There are other goals in life.  T.v. is just a sideline.  Train to become a singer, an artist or a writer or something like that in your spare time, if you have any.  About two hours of t.v. a day is the maximum you should watch.  Just think what you will have accomplished if you spend your spare time doing something else - learn to play the guitar or banjo, the flute or the piano or something else, sing madrigals with your brothers and sisters (know what madrigals are?  then find out), or put on a play or an in-home exhibition of your paintings for your friends to come and visit.  The lists are endless of the different things you could learn to do and share with your friends.  Make a contribution to life.  Don't just sit there eating popcorn night after night after night after night...See what I mean, it drains you to watch too much of the set, and the same goes for computers, Joanne, says a voice in my head, so off I go...Goodbye!

Somer And His Bananas

     Somer, my son, otherwise known as Nick, used to eat bananas, not by the dozen, but by the half dozen.  He wanted to grow up big and strong.  He was four at the time.  Now he does not eat so many bananas, since Grandma Okano put a stop to this habit, but he is tall for his age and has massive feet.

Hankering

     I had a hankering for something today.  I call it Seafood Delight.  And do you know what it is?  Ostriches in brine, don't you think?  No, it is little octopuses in brine.  Ah well, another day another dime, you think, but no, I'm sick and don't have a job.  So that'll have to do for now.  Just the thought, that is.

Lunacy

     I became a lunatic by going to a mental asylum.  I was perfectly normal before that - I thought I was a someone, and I was.  But after going to the mental asylum, I thought I was a nothing, that was the lunacy.

Tuesday, Tuesday

      I have just heard word that I and everyone else are supposed to be depressed because it is a Tuesday.  No, actually, I was just feeling very grateful to be alive.

Wise Choices

     We gain strength of character by continuing to strive to make wise choices in life, the way Jesus wanted us to have the chance to do in the Council in Heaven.  Satan's plan would have made us weak, so it wouldn't have worked.  Satan's plan was to force everyone to be good.  Satan offered his plan in opposition to Jesus' plan in the Council in Heaven and all of us had to vote to say which plan we wanted to follow.

Journal

      Last night I had Family Home Evening finished off with the waltz music of Johann Strauss, which did me a world of good.

The Dying Woman

      Once upon a time there was a woman, not a woman of means (which means she didn't have any money) and she was dying.  I don't mean me, this was another woman, children, so you don't need to get upset.  She was loved by the general public.
    
     She had no money and nowhere to go but up.  (That means she had only to do something for her well-being and she would have got better.)  If only she would use the pills she had in her cupboard, said the Saviour, if only she would wrap herself in blankets instead of a duvet which let in the cold at the sides, if only she would make herb tea and bread instead of starving herself, she would get well again.  You get the picture?  But she was too ill to do any of these things.  Finally she arose from the bed and made soup.  Now you know what soup is?  It is made of vegetables, this soup.  It is one of nature's wonders.  It makes you better when you are sick.  And it made her better.

The End

Why I Like To Dance

     I like to dance because it is fun, nerving and keeps you out of trouble!  Other than that I like it because it gets you friends.

Journal

     Brigham made focaccia bread by himself.  Brigham is my 18 year old son.

Pristine Woods

     Pristine woods surround the village of Burns Lake.  People from all walks of life: doctors and millers and so forth.  I used to live there.  When I had a baby, my husband sat in the other room, things were so bad, but they're not now.  I live by myself and the children come around on the weekends and during the week they're with their dad most of the time.
     I wish I lived in Burns Lake still.

Journal

     I was sick yesterday but I lived.  My boys came over and it was nice seeing them.

Journal

     I read a lot last night before turning out the light.  Ah, what a happy feeling!  A tree book, a grasses book, the life of President Lorenzo Snow, the Book of Mormon, the Ensign magazine.

24 Things Children Need

1.  to be held

2.  to be read to

3.  to be given choices

4.  to learn to make good choices

5.  to be cocooned in love

6.  to be married in the Temple

7.  the Friend magazine

8.  milk, then healthy food

9.  to have an allowance (I try to give mine allowances, but they won't accept them)

10.  things to play with

11.  kindness

12.  to learn about God

13.  to learn about why they came to earth

14.  happy memories

15.  to learn to read

16.  to love to learn

17.  responsibility

18.  joi de vivre

19.  parents who try to do the best they can for them

20.  shoes

21.  clothes
22.  a library card
23.  a good education (I would rather homeschool my children, and have done so at times, but if they want to go to school, I let them do so, providing it is under safe circumstances.)
24.  happiness and joy every day of their lives

Bedtime Quip

     If you get a thought you don't want, just sing a hymn, boys and girls.

South Sea Islands Stories

     When I was a young mother,  I had four children with me one night and was stuck for a bedtime story.  So I made one up out of my head about the South Seas and an island-hopping captain and his ship.  I can't remember what the stories were, but maybe one day I will in Heaven or maybe the children will.  I'll have to ask them.  They were funny.

She's My Sister

     Should you happen to meet someone who's old enough to be your mother, children dear, who's tall, who plays African drums and a didgeridoo, who sky-dives, who doesn't froth at the mouth if you ask her to swim but rather dives right in and scuba dives, who doesn't dance '50s only but wins at contests in '50s jiving and jitterbugging, she's my sister.  Be nice to her please, she's had a hard life.

Have-all-dom

     In Have-all-dom there lives a man called Have-not.  He is old, he is screwed up and he is wise.  Now that may not seem like a happy equation but he is the happiest person there because he is enabled to do what he pleases, to paint.  He has an easel, paints, brushes, canvas and boards for setting his work on when it's drying.  Ah, what a pleasant life he has.  End of story.
     His name means Michaelmas Daisy and I have seen him lying at the side of the road on his day off, sunning himself fully clothed and enjoying life.
     I wish I were him sometimes, says the rich Have who wrote this story, but such is not to be.  Ah, well, another day another dime.  It's a recession too for me.  I have four children too, like he has but mine are brats.  They whine, they fuss, and they make a mess of things.  His are divinely enabled to be not brats.  I don't know how he does it.  They fuss about maybe, but they don't whine or make a mess of things.  They don't appreciate good liquor, they don't even drink it, like mine want to.  Ah, well, what to do?  Maybe in another lifetime, I'll be like him.
     But until then, I have my wife, and he has none.  No one wants him, it seems.

Journal

     Last night, my children and the missionaries came for supper.

My Life In Twenty Minutes

     They say that when it is time to go home after life is over, you get a flashback of your life from start to finish.  I am going home soon some people think, so I thought I'd do mine on the canvas of the blog!
     First I would say I was in a room in Plegerinnenschule Zollikerberg in Switzerland and then I was in  
the pram saying to the men, "Apa!"  After that I was playing outside in our garden in Montreal and then in Sweden with sister Robin.  Then I would be playing tennis and missing the ball in England, near Keston.  Next I would be graduating from St. Clare's Hall, on paper at least, they didn't have a graduating ceremony and winging my way to my new home in Canada.
     After that I would be sitting in school at the University of British Columbia where I took Arts and then at Simon Fraser University where I took a few Fine Arts courses.  Lastly I would be having each of my children and homeschooling them before I went to Heaven, because that's about all I did you think, but no, I would befriend many people in the mental establishments of B.C. where I learned about creative writing and painting more, and then taking off not on a cruise maybe but on the journey of a lifetime writing and painting and doing more child rearing.  There, I think that's it, I'm ready to go home now, don't you think, but no, I'm ready to go on and do more, because I haven't done everything I came to earth to do, I don't think.  So don't think I'm giving up because I get a little sick sometimes or a lot sick as the case may be.  I'm not done yet.

Journal

     Bumped into my daughter yesterday at the Temple.  It was so nice to see her.

Black Beret Through The Looking Glass

     Once upon a time I was a slow learner, you think, and now I'm not.  But it went on until very recently.  Yesterday, in fact, on the piano, at least.  I couldn't understand the notes written down on the page with rapidity.  It took too long to understand.  But I prayed yesterday to have my intellect increased so I could understand the written score and it has helped me a little bit.  I feel like Alice stepping through the looking glass and into a magical world.

Egghead Blond

     Egghead Blond was always studying.  He was good at it.  He really was.   He studied from dusk till dawn.  Then he slept in.  End of story.  But no, there was something else.  He had a love life, in the daytime.  He strutted about campus canoodling with the women.  One woman was not enough.  Now we know him better, what did he do?  He funnied us and took a snapshot of us.  What did he see?  Messy hair, messy clothes.  We had just woken up.  Ah, well, not for us the days of yore when we strutted about campus doing much the same things he does.  Now we sit at our computer in the middle of the day with unwashed hair and our pajamas on and he goes his way.  He was mine, you think, but no he never was.  I just thought he was.  

Family Home Evening At The Okanos

     Tonight we had Family Home Evening with the boys and me.  Somerset welcomed us.  We had a song and a prayer.  We recounted a scripture story about Joseph of Egypt and Potiphar's wife and discussed what you learn from being a parent.
      Next we had an MTC activity (MTC= Missionary Training Centre) where we arrived at the MTC and learned seven Dutch words: mes=knife, vork=fork, lepel=spoon, plaat=plate, glas=glass, tafel=table, and stoel=chair from a placard on the wall.
      We in imagination arrived at the Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands and the boys were tested on these words. We had fun.  We closed with a prayer and I made Pumpkin Spice Bread for a treat.  This was a hit with the boys.  Paul and Somerset ate multiple slices. We played Big Band music and closed the evening.

Journal

     Wrote a new, happier ending to my story The Elephant And The Girl.

Post

Hip hip hooray!

My manuscript was sent off today!

When I Became Converted To The Gospel

       When I became converted to the Gospel, I was simple in my faith.  I did not believe everything I was told, but I was willing to try it.  End of story.

Journal

     Had a fun night not going out last night and without a husband!  I wish I had one, but I'm not going on about it anymore.  Thank goodness for that, you're all saying!  Oh, well, I try.

A Husband, A Husband, Give Me A Husband Or I'll Die Said The Lonely Maiden

     That was the long-winded title.  Now this is the long-winded story.
      Once upon a time, a long time ago that is,  there lived a lovely girl who was so far from life it had to be noted, not once but twice, by passing men.
     They noted she was pale and wan, which means she was deathly ill, and needed help, she said, in the form of a husband.  What was it she wanted, kindness, love and gentility.  But what was it she got? Nothing.  Nothing at all.  Not one iota.
     Now we say that God gives us everything we need, but what we say is important too.  She got help and more help, but it was never enough, because what she really needed was a husband.  What we are saying is pray your prayers right, children, and ask for what you want not what you need, you think, but no, ask for what God wants you to ask for.  Ask Him to pray the prayer when it gets too hard, I do, if you pray again and again and nothing happens.  Maybe something good will come out, you say, but no, something good will come out, it is assured.  So don't pray for help little girl, pray for a good, kind man, like you are doing, and I am sure something good will happen.
     I hear your prayers at night little girl, and they are all the same, that's another thing.  Try to make them different.  It is awfully tedious to listen night after night to the same prayer, as diligent as they may be said.
     "I'm coming, don't give up," said another voice in her head.

BLACK BEANS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

        Happy New Year everyone!

     Mama is cooking a big pot of black beans today to make burritos.  Never a dull moment, I've started a new blog.  But it's back to work on this one.

     Hope you had a good Christmas.  I did.