DETOUR

I have had to do a lot of soul searching lately and I have really had to push myself to go to the temple since Keith passed away. When I was sent to St. George, I figured I would get there, but the weather really did put a damper on my plans--and I was tired and exhausted from putting in 10 hour days. So I made a promise to myself (or maybe a resolution) that if I went again to Dixie, I would go to a session. and what better way that to so some soul searching than in the temple.
For those of you who know me--know that I don't have a lot of luck when it comes to St. George. The First time I went to St. George on my own, I went to the temple, came out and stepped off the curb wrong and broke my foot! The next time I went, all the power went out from Richfield to Mesquite and we were stuck in St. George in the middle of August with no electricity, so we couldn't get gas, and this meant no air conditioning. It was miserable. The next time I went (with Keith, Mom and her friend Kathy, was to my cousin's wedding in Cedar City (not quite St. George, but close enough) and the wedding and precursor to it was just a comedy of errors. The only saving grace was the laughter we had later. I have to say that my cousin divorced this man and married a much better catch the second time around. The next time to Southern Utah was last month--it rained for 9 days in a row, we were nearly evacuated from the motel I was staying in...but it all turned out good.
Fast forward to this week. I left on Wednesday at about noon and arrived at 5:30--dropped off my stuff to the room, changed my clothes and headed for town. I was tired and exhausted and needed some rest--but I am glad I did it. It was peaceful and a pleasant break from everything that has been going on. It has been 10 or so years at least since I have been there. Although I love the historical background and the lovely design and it is one of my favorites--I still have a very deep love for Manti and always will. I think that maybe the church should have left that one as a live session temple, but then they didn't ask for my opinion. The next place I took advantage of for some soul searching and besides the temple, what a beautiful place to soul search. This place is truly ZION! I love Zion National Park. The weather was absolutely spectacular, I had the windows rolled down and some nice music playing in the cd player and I just drove and drove until I had to pay the $25.00 entrance fee (I may have justified paying the $25.00 if there had been at least 4 people in the car but I am cheap these days) and I turned around and headed back to LaVerkin (what a name) to head North for home. I think I got a little of my dad's love for rocks, but I prefer them in picture form than lying around my yard. So here are a few snaps of my trip to Dixie and Zion NP.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Oprah announced today that...are you sitting down for this?...that she has a a half sister! The horror and shock of it all.

Well, I am here to tell you that I have plenty in my family alone, that have step brothers, half brothers and sisters, adopted children, and if you really want me to get into the nitty gritty of it all my mother is:

one of two children (Clair and Gwen..children of Pete and Lucile,)
an only child (raised and adopted by her aunt and uncle (Lois and Al) after her mother's death),
the second child in a family of six (Clair, Gwen, Eileen, Trina, Curly and Buffy-- a step-child to Myrtle (Pete's second wife) and children to Pete),
and then the oldest of nine children: Gwen, Steve,Penny, Barbara, Condalee, Jeff, John, Sally and Sandy!!!

So if Oprah can make a big deal out of being a half sister to Patty What's her name--I have this all on one family line--no kidding. If you don't believe me, I will write it all out for you on paper!!!

This is why I do not watch television. Eat your heart out Oprah! I bet you wish you could claim this family line!!!

I REALLY AM AN IDIOT!

Two Christmas' ago, Keith went all out for me and it was an electronic Christmas. I got a new digital camera, which has since been sent to the camera heaven in the local junk yard. A new computer, which somehow saw it's better days and should be sent to computer heaven, but I haven't had the gumption to do that, besides, my cousin is taking the guts out of it and I will have the hardware in case I need it--why, I don't know, because we got a huge memory bank and transferred it, but I guess it is the fear of "just in case." I also got a portable dvd player that gets used nearly every week by one of the kids when they don't wnat to watch waht one of the others is watching!
But the funniest one is that I got an MP3 player, similar to the one in this picture. I don't know why I wanted it, but I got it and yes, I have never ever used it. .

Yes, I am really an idiot. I could never get it to work and quite honestly, never took the time to figure it out. And if you are wondering about operating instructions, for some reason, they never came with it. The store told Keith I could come in and he would show me how to download to it, but I never did, and I never did and, well...you get the picture. I finally sat down today and figured it out! Yep--two years and one month later. After all, it is the only thing that isn't broken and seen it's better days. Guess what? I works!!!

Quite honestly, it wasn't that hard, but I guess I just didn't have it in me to figure it out in the past two years.
Here's to some music while I work (if I could ever get a job)!