Busy, busy, busy and an explanation.

Crazy-busy weekend.  Friday night was our usual card game/night out with our friends.  Except that usually the women win and this time the guys kicked our butts.  But, we gotta let them win sometime or they wouldn't play with us, right?  There's always next week.  Or maybe tonite, actually.

Saturday morning Sam and Meg worked at our Helping Hands project, painting and sort of renovating a Southern Baptist church in Seaside.  I wasn't really up to it yet, but I went to see what was going on.  We know these guys from when we did a joint gospel choir with them.  That was a blast, although a totally different way for us to learn music.  When our highcouncilman, Doug, called to ask for names of people to sing in that choir, he said that we needed people who are cool, who won't try to proselytize, and if they could sing, it would be nice.  It was for a Monterey Bay area gospel music festival that ultimately got cancelled, but it was a great experience and we really had a good time.  Apparently Doug is buddies with the pastor there, so when they were looking for a helping hands project, he asked the pastor if there was anything they could use help with.  I think they were expecting a couple of dozen people, but this was a Stake (a group of congregations, for those of you not familiar with LDS lingo) project.  We had probably 150 people show up.  The Baptists had offered to feed us, but Doug was pretty sure they had no idea what was coming, so he showed up with a boatload of meat for the BBQ they were doing.  They painted inside and out, moved all the pews to clean and oil them while they cleaned the carpet underneath, fixed the steeple, put in some handrails, fixed a broken sliding door, washed all the windows, detailed the chapel, swept and repainted the parking lot and I don't even know what all else. Sam took a ton of pictures, but who knows when I'll see them.

This video was released today, for Calfornia Helping Hands.  This was filmed in San Jose where we used to live and several of our Alum Rock friends are in it.  They asked for people from down here, but I was still recuperating from surgery, so we didn't get to go.

On the way home from Helping Hands, we drove through Pacific Grove because I heard the ice plant on the coast had bloomed.  It was spectacular.  This is just an iphone pic, Sams will be better, I'm sure.

Last night, a photographer friend called and needed help doing portraits for a black-tie Navy Ball at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.  That place is amazing.  It was originally a really posh hotel, built in the 30's I think.  It's really beautiful.  It was interesting to see how the photographer was set up for that....something we've comtemplated...and see what we would do differently and what we thought worked well.  She has some nice equipment, but Sam's camera is one step up from her Canon and he spent a good amount of time trying to sell her his so that he can buy the new one that's out.  It's $3600, which we don't have, and I told him to figure out where it's coming from and he can order it.  The event itself was lovely, everyone all dressed to the nines.  Although there were a few women that we wondered if they'd actually looked in the mirror before they left home.  The dance play list was cracking me up, though, I'm sure all of those songs were out when I was in high school!

A few years ago, our good friends, the Filceks, had to stay with us while Dan transitioned from Air Force to a civilian employee of the Defense Language Institute.  Lysa and I did a great job of tag-teaming dinners etc.  It was nice to have another cook/chauffer/dishwasher around.  When they finally got their apartment, Sam commented that he was gonna miss his other wife.  Me too!  Then, down the road a year or so, with Habitat for Humanity, they built a house next to our friends, the Sawyers.  Really close, like in their front yard.  Then, the family that was living in the other half of Sawyers duplex moved out and Habitat was looking for another family.  Our friend, Salah, ended up getting it.  They have a common parking area, etc, there's a fence around most of it, so we call it The Compound.  We are honorary compound members cuz we're so cool and all.  Heather and Lysa, who both have several special-needs kids, found out that they had kids with the same problems.  They all go to the same charter school, are on the same swim team as Meg, etc.  Salah's Erin, whose kids are just tiny still,  has a degree in child development or psychology or something like that.  ANYWAY....I tell this story, because Heather, Lysa and I joke about being sisterwives.  We parent each others kids, correlate rides to swim team, youth church activities, they make sure all the kids get to whatever specialist, therapist, whatever appointment they need and my job is to take up the slack when they get over scheduled.  I get to hang out with Normie and Zerin, (ages 6 and 4) mostly, which is fun.  Bonus: Meghan gets 10 siblings!

So, in the future, should I mention Sisterwives and Compounds, don't be thinking there's something weird going on.  Well, there's plenty of weird stuff, but nothing immoral, illegal or habit-forming.  Except for Salah's cooking, which is REALLY habit forming.

Hahahaha!

So, after yesterday's downer post, I figured we needed a laugh.  Sam was going through his pictures this morning of the Bailey reunion in Idaho a few years ago and found this gem.  I LOVE these girls, and I wish we lived closer.  ( No speeches on how we oughta move to Boise.  Not happenin' any time soon).   Amy looks like she's......I dunno, but she's out of control for sure, lol.  I'm gonna print this pic out and hang it on my fridge next to the crazy Christmas card they sent me a few years ago.  Yes, I still have it, and yes, it still makes me smile.

Ramblings...

Today is just a philosophical post. Lots of "stuff" going on that I feel helpless to do anything about. Not to us, we're mostly fine.

 I got a call today. I don't wanna put any identifiers on the caller, cuz someone would figure it out. Other than it was a "she". This person has had more trials in her life than anyone I know. In fact, when I think back over the last 30 years or so, I can hardly think of time when she didn't have some big "thing" she had to overcome. Today, she was in tears. First time since about ten years ago when she told me that she just wasn't gonna cry about it any more. And, you know me, anyone else cries and I'm a goner. So we cried about the current, seemingly insurmountable, issue. I wished I lived closer so that I could physically be there to help her solve some of the smaller issues. Just about all I can do is let her call and cry whenever she wants, and pray for her and her family. It made me think about why some people have so many more big problems than others. I realize some people bring big problems onto themselves and even though I still feel for them, it doesn't seem senseless. From a gospel perspective, I understand that we are supposed to learn from our trials. But, this person, who seems so much wiser than me in most ways, has WAY more trials in her life than I do. None of them self-inflicted as far as I can see. I have a few, most are not a big deal, some seem so at the time, but in retrospect I think I've had a remarkably easy go of life. I know that God gives more to people who can handle more. And, I suspect they grow more. I'm not brave enough to do an Elder Eyring and pray for a trial. I'll stick with my little trials for now. And keep praying for her burdens to be lightened somehow.

 The other thing I've been thinking about a lot is the issue of taking offense. I'm pretty easy going, I rarely get offended. I get annoyed sometimes, but it passes pretty quickly, because it's just a waste of energy to stay mad. I got better things to do. However, I tend to avoid people that get easily offended, because, frankly, just don't want to worry about it. My closest friends are very frank people, who I am certain would tell me if I did something stupid (if it was important enough to be mad about....I do little stupid things on a regular basis, I'm sure). And, if they ever did something that I took issue with, I could tell them. But, it's NEVER happened. But, what do you do when two people you love are in a snit with each other? Especially family members....how do you plan a family gathering when part of the family isn't speaking to another part? I have to say that Sam's family is pretty good about gathering anyway, and the offended parties all act like it's OK, mostly to keep Mom happy, I suppose. I don't recall when a family feud ruined a Bailey family reunion. Maybe before my time, or I"m just happily oblivious.

 OK, I"m rambling now. I vaguely recall that there was a point when I started, but I seem to have forgotten it. OK, so I'll just quote Elder Uchtdorf: "When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following: Stop it!" I just wanna cross-stitch that and hang it on my wall. Ok, not cross-stitch, I was kidding about that part.

 When Meggie was five, she took 50 cents to school to buy after-school ice cream. During recess, she left it on a picnic table because she was worried about it falling out of her pocket. Of course,someone swiped it. As she was in tears on the way home, she kept asking why someone would take that money when it was hers. I explained that some people might have thought, "ooh.. just found 50 cents" and didn't think that it might belong to someone else. Or someone might have just decided they didn't care that it belonged to someone else, because some people are just not nice. There was silence in the back seat for a bit and then she said, "Mom. Everyone in the world should just be nice all the time!". That's another good one to cross-stitch, if I was into that sort of thing.

An Insight

We bought a 2010 Honda Insight hybrid for Sam to commute to work in. We spent more than we wanted to, but we're gonna hope it lives up to the Honda reputation and lasts us at least as long as the Dodge did. But with fewer engines. It's the red car in the front in this pic, if you didn't know. The red car in the back is a Fiat 500, which Sam thought might be fun to try out, since he used to drive one (with four missionaries in it, lol) in Italy. It wasn't as fun as he thought, although Meg and I enjoyed it. Too gutless to make Sam happy, though. The blue car is the dead Dodge. As soon as we strip all the good stuff off of it, it's off to the PickNPull down the street. Know anyone who wants some practically brand new tires for cheap? Or someone who wants to rebuild a Dodge Intrepid engine? Again.

In other news, our loft "tenants" left today after she made us the biggest Dolma feast in the world for dinner last night. Dolma is stuffed cabbage or grape leaves or tomatoes or bell peppers or eggplant or zucchini or any and all of the above. I"m pretty sure I don't need to eat again for at least a week. They were fun to have and we got to try some Armenian and Georgian food (as in the country, Georgia, not the state). We're gonna miss them, we kind of like having live-in friends who will play cards with us whenever. They are off to Las Vegas where he has a job at the airport. A shout out and thanks to Jenny E for helping them stay out of the sketchy parts of town while they were long-distance apartment hunting.

The days are getting longer, it's nearly light when Meg and I leave for seminary at 5:30 am. We're heading into the nicest part of the year here, it's supposed to be sunny and in the 70's this weekend. Did I mention the loft is empty? Someone should come visit before Ry and Sue come the middle of June....which is when the fog rolls back in anyway.

Requiem for a dead Dodge.

We bought a Dodge Intrepid in 2001...it was a year old at the time, had 20K miles on it. Today it has about 185K miles on it. Bought new tires a couple of months ago, a new battery at about the same time, paid the registration fees last week, put $80 gas in it last night.

Today, on Sam's commute to work, it gasped it's last. We've resurrected it twice, it got a new engine (under warranty) at 60K miles, and we rebuilt it three years ago when it threw a rod. I think it's time we performed last rites and maybe have a wake.

But, wouldn't it have been nicer if it died the week BEFORE I bought the tires and battery. Or even YESTERDAY, before we put $80 of gas in it.

And now, we "get" to go car shopping, which I like almost as much as I like going to the dentist.

So, I guess I'll see if I can go back to blogging....

I decided that since I flaked on the Bailey family newsletter, I'd update the blog and we'll see if I can keep up with it for awhile.

So, our latest adventures....

Shortly after New Years, I started getting a funky pain in my side. One evening, after a couple of days, it started getting really bad, so I had Sam take me to the ER. Six hours, an MRI (or was it a CAT scan?), and $10K later, they told me I had a "mass", approximately 15 cm in diameter on my right side, probably connected to an ovary. So, I was scheduled for surgery a couple of weeks later. It turned out to be a very large benign cyst. My sister and Susan were both here, and I had lots of help and thought I was doing great.

THEN, I went to get the staples out. (Yes they used a staple gun on me, lol). That didn't go so well. I'll spare you most of the gory details....only Sam knows them anyway. He was there and I kept telling him I didn't wanna know. Long story short, they said they would let it heal "from the inside out" which I'd never heard of before. So, they taught Sam how to stuff me with gauze every night and told me it would take 2 to 3 months. They also sent me to a "wound care specialist" (not on my insurance, of course. Well, I showed them, and it only took six weeks. It was a long six weeks though, as they wouldn't let me drive or go anywhere but the doctor's. Thank goodness for my friends who made sure Meg had rides to everywhere she needed to go and I had rides to the doctors, etc. We have great friends...we are very blessed.

While I was stuck in my LaZBoy for two months, I worked on Sam's website. I still have a lot to upload, and our internet is crazy-slow, so it may take a few weeks. But if you want to check it out it's at www.zenfolio.com/sambaileyphotography. I also got much better at the ukulele. And read about a thousand books.

We have friends staying with us for a bit, they had applied for jobs all over the country and didn't want to sign a lease until they knew whether they were staying or going. He was offered a job in Las Vegas, and they'll be leaving next week. I'll miss them, they are fun to have around. She's from Armenia, so we've added Armenian food to our international foods list, it's been fun trying new things.

Meghan is in 9th grade, still homeschooling, which was not in the plan, but that's how it goes. She's trying to decide if she wants to go back to a regular high school or stay in homeschool and do some college courses for high school/college credit at the same time. Monterey Peninsula College offers an AA in graphic arts, which is what she wants to go into. She's also interested in the BYU animation program, but she'll have to get her AA first...I can't afford four years of BYU.

That's life in a nutshell these days. We miss Liz and Mom since they moved to Boise. If we had to live somewhere that we didn't want to, Boise would be on top of our list, just for the family that's there.

Taking a Poll

I haven't written in over a year. Seems like Facebook has taken over my online socializing. Mostly I started reading your blogs and started this one to keep in touch with our vast family. Many of you migrated to Facebook, and we followed. But, not everybody. So...

I'm thinking about writing again, wondering if anyone still reads these, or if we're all exclusively Facebookers now.

Any thoughts??