Tuesday, May 24

Quote of the Day:  “Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage- it can be delightful.”  George Bernard Shaw.  This reminds me of the scripture and I’m paraphrasing: Man is that he may have joy.  I keep thinking of that and am buoyed by the idea of joy.

Exercise Log:  Sue O., Patti and I went and we walked fast.  It felt invigorating but the hills are a little taxing on the body.  We went 4.46 The grass is so amazingly green, and the rain keeps coming.  We will be wanting that rain in about a month.  One of my favorite things about walking is that you get to see all the flowers starting to bloom.  It always gives me hope when I see a new flower coming of season.  We talked about how exercise really is the best defense against depression and feeling down.  It has been the single most important factor in keeping my spirits up during chemo treatments.  Did 2.0 on stairmaster later (.05)

I have a lot of energy today so I was able to run a few errands and feel like I’m accomplishing things.  Today, with the Sues and Patti, we are going to go to my room at Skyline and clean out some of my things.  I think that will help to get that organized before school ends.

Yesterday, Dad and Linda came over and they had also come over the previous weekend when we were in St. George and Linda had weeded my flower beds and around the fountain which was intermingled with much grass.  Linda is a great gardner and source for what plants work well and where.  That was the kindest gesture and I felt very badly that I hadn’t noticed it.  I’m the first to admit that my brain is not all there.  I find that I can only concentrate on a few things and sometime I have to ask a question again and make myself process the information.  It does make me concentrate more on what is being said to me so that’s good but back to Linda.  So, I just was so touched by that gesture because that service has all these parts of giving of your time, helping someone with something they want done but can’t do and feeling useful in your service.  It looks so good and will make it possible for me to get the fountain going on Saturday!  We love hearing the water running as we are inside our house.

I have also contemplated how many things I am grateful for and I owe my Dad and Linda a lot in providing for me a place that I loved living when I was a teen-ager.  The summer after 6th grade was a real turning point for me.  I had been hanging out with kids that were having trouble in 6th grade.  I didn’t like who I was, I didn’t want to bring anyone home to my house and so I started making a fuss that I wanted to live with my Dad and Linda.  My mom didn’t want me to move, my older sisters had already left her home and were living there- I think Heidi lived at my Grandma Reese’s or she was just recently married.  So, my Mom finally consented for me to go.  Now, Dad and Linda lived about 1.5 miles away in Holladay from my Mom.  I wouldn’t need to change schools so that part was easy.  There home was small with just 3 bedrooms so it was a sacrifice to have one more come live with them.  I really appreciate that no one ever made me feel like I was a burden or an extra body was too much.  I started to come into my own.  I made friends with all these people in the ward and really went from having friends that weren’t a good influence on me to having friends and church leaders that I really looked up to.  I remember a girl saying about me in 7th grade that I had become boring.  What a compliment!   Somehow in junior high- go figure- I became empowered and really knew who I was and who I wanted to become.  I was blessed with a positive sense of who to avoid and who to hold on to.  I think I was forced to mature a bit faster than some kids and that helped me stay strong when other kids were tempted.

Lilacs blooming in my yard