Easter Vampire

Step off, Bella - THIS is MY brand of heroin!

My one true love. (One-sided, sure, but it does tend to stick around, even after the holiday...)

Blogging General Conference - Part 5

In which we shall see: Warnings, and blessings, and WORK. Oh, my.

* * * * *

The 179th Semi-Annual General Conference is over, and it was marvelous. There were some very stern messages, and moving messages, and heart-tugging messages, and they were all delivered with a great deal of love and compassion. This last session could have had "The Temple" as its theme - I think three people in a row used the Temple as their main topic, and it was mentioned several times by others as well.

Other items of note:

- President Monson really is the great storyteller of the Church. HE WILL GET TO YOU. *sniffle*

- Primary songs were the popular thing to quote - we estimated at least five speakers recited lyrics from various childrens' songs. (I loved how the postlude music from the organ was "I Love to see the Temple" - both following the recent session's theme and the overall practice of referencing Primary songs.)

- Neil L. Anderson, newest Apostle, is an extraordinarily sweet and humble man.

- The Bretheren REALLY want us to get up off our couches and serve each other; actively nourish our testimonies; share the gospel; go to the Temple; and FOCUS on the things of the Lord.

- Follow the Prophets, Be Faithful, Be Obedient, Be Cheerful.

- Be very careful, particularly of the Internet - be clean, be modest, and AVOID PORNOGRAPHY.

Hopefully in six months I'll be... elsewhere - I love my family, but I really want to focus on Conference, and hearing the buzz of people discussing business ventures while GA's are speaking is VERY distracting. I take it as a mark of personal growth that I didn't storm off or even express any irritation. I've got probably a third of the pieces I need for a new afghan finished. Here's to figuring out how to get it done in less than two years!

See you in six months!

Blogging General Conference - Part 4

In which we shall see: Good stuff.

* * * * *

Today's session started with a bang - Elder Uchtdorf started things off with a powerful plea for us to take action; a reminder that this church and our testimonies are not "spectator sports". (He looks a little more natural today - somebody must have talked to his makeup person!) A little later the message was given that it's time for all of us to "get on with our lives"... It's like they knew I'd be listening today and wrote the messages just for me! Elder Holland (one of my favorite speakers ever since I had the opportunity to see him literally pound the pulpit during an address at the MTC) gave a deeply moving message about the Savior, His Atonement, and the necessity that we never betray or abandon Him as He was betrayed and abandoned - and to remember that He and Heavenly Father will never betray or abandon us.

A couple of little kids running around this session - might be disctracting, but they're so stinkin' cute it doesn't really matter. The adults are a little chattier - we've all got computers or other projects though, so it never gets really noisy. All about multi-tasking, my family.

I'm still full from last night's dinner - I even broke out the dessert I didn't eat then to nosh on for breakfast, and only made it halfway through.

I'll be waiting for this Conference to come out on DVD - I have every intention of watching and re-watching these sessions to remind me of the things I need to be doing, and to help me stick to my resolutions. (Kathy, this has been a very interesting Conference for me - it's been very very good in regards to that one thing. The big one.)

One more session to go - in the meantime, we'll eat; I'll get my taxes done (Dad's OK with doing it on Sunday since he doesn't intend to charge me); I'll make cookies (the Careers class has been great, again); I'll work on lesson plans; and I'll finish up the photo CD for Rules of Comedy. Oh, and I'll go for a walk. For at least a little while, there's sunshine today. Appropriate.

Bonus Content #8 - Sunday Comic

Stupid is as stupid does.


I heart Frazz.

Blogging General Conference - Part 3

In which we shall see: FOOOOOOD!!!!!

* * * *

I am SO FULL. As part of our family's bi-annual Conference tradition, all the boys (the ones in-state, anyway) go to the Priesthood session with my dad at the local stake center, and then all the wives (and me) meet up with them afterwards at a restaurant for dinner. We went to the Asian Star tonight, which was a departure for us - we're not usually very exotic when it comes to our food choices (we're generally Mimi's/Olive Garden people). I was pretty excited, though - the one time I'd been before I remember it being very good, and I was happy to go for Chinese again - especially when someone else was paying for it. (Also tradition - thanks so much, Dad!)

It was all fabulous. SO TASTY! Usually Mom makes all the guys report back on things they heard at the meeting - tonight everyone was so busy talking about working out and diet and exercise tips that we never got around to it. This is not normal for us. Exercise is generally NOT at the forefront of any of my relatives' minds. That weight-loss contest really did shift things around for all of us, though - and nearly all of us are planning on doing the half marathon my sister is setting up. Craziness! In a good way!

This does mean I'll have to go download all the talks or wait for my Conference Ensign before I can find out what happened tonight, though... And I'm also trying to work out a way to walk the three miles to my parents' house for the sessions tomorrow. I can't imagine not still being full even tomorrow. Urgh. (But yummy!)

Blogging General Conference - Part 2

In which we shall see: the reasons why I don't like going to my parents' house for Conference, progress, and the need for a nap.

* * * *

The second session is marvelous, though it started off a little rocky when my mom dropped me off at Costco to quickly run in, then vanished, leaving me standing outside in the rain waiting for her and fuming over missing the beginning of the afternoon session.

There was a wonderful talk on faith (I need to go look up the name of the speaker, and download it as soon as it's available) that discussed developing faith, and the things to avoid (all D's) that will erode and destroy faith. Several people have talked about tragic experiences and overcoming adversity - Elder Scott is currently tugging the heartstrings and going right for the jugular. He's GOOD. This was a good reminder from him - 'I've never asked "Why?" - but rather, "What is it He wants me to learn from this experience?"' He also mentioned a couple of times that he doesn't complain about his hardships. (Gotta keep working on that.)

My mom is sitting right behind me at the table, counting change and occasionally vocalizing - responsive non-verbals, and a reaction after every talk. It's not particularly annoying - she's done it for years, and I'm used to it - but it does make me wistful for my own TV and silent space. Two sisters-in-law are doing a photo shoot in the other room... ditto above. (I'm betting the pictures will turn out beautifully, though. My s-i-l has the knack.)

Elder Uchtdorf looks really orange today. I think it's probably the TV makeup, rather than the TV - somebody ought to tone him down a shade or two.

I've got a good start on my next Conference afghan - currently, stacks of granny quares in shades of green. I'm planning to mix them up with squares in purple and yellow, with a few oversized squares tossed in if I can get them to fit. Should be funky and interesting (I hope).

I have cookies to bake and lessons to plan and photo CD's to finish and photo posters to rebuild - all of which naturally leads one to expect that I shall head home and nap for a couple of hours before meeting all the family guys for dinner after the Priesthood session.

Blogging General Conference

In which we shall see: lots of Mormon stuff, potential gushing and confessionals, and crafts.

* * * *

I don't remember when it happened, but some years ago I discovered that I LOVE the Saturday sessions of the LDS General Conference. The messages seemed more important, more revolutionary (inasmuch as the bretheren are ever strident and - can you imagine? Guerrilla tactics from the pulpit?), more eloquent - anyway, those "extra" four hours on Saturday were no longer any kind of hardship.

So here I am in the middle of the first session of April General Conference, and already I'm so glad to be here. In combination of the snow and all kinds of stress from work lately, I've been somewhat depressed, and it was marvelous to come to my parents' house this morning (I have no TV - my roommate ((mostly)) moved out) and feel an immediate uplift. It's been interesting, too - I've felt like a few of the talks have had direct application to me, while others have not... but still I've gotten and have been feeling answers to questions and dilemmas that I've been facing that have had nothing at all to do with the topics discussed. (Wow. That was a convoluted sentence.) Just a few minutes ago I realized that not only did I not miss working Conference, I hadn't spared a single thought in the last couple of weeks for International Week, which always was a crazy time that I did, in fact, enjoy. Huh. Guess that wasn't the everlasting job for me after all!

Also, I'm working on a fun new design for a crocheted afghan (the yarn was all donated for Mothers Without Borders, so there are some strange and wacky colors) with a very simple base piece. I just hope it doesn't take me the next three Conferences to finish! (Seriously, I don't understand why people want to deal with all the crowds and the weather to actually be in the Conference Center. Well, OK, it's all very well to do at least once, but honestly - I'd so much rather be sitting at home in my pajamas, with my project and my junk food, relaxing and enjoying listening without the distraction of 20,000 of my closest friends!)