Saturday was a Special Day

 I had such a lovely sleep! Lavon had opened the window in the bedroom I slept in just the right amount, so I had a good dose of fresh air! The blow-up mattress was also very comfortable--she had given me a choice between Matthew's real bed downstairs without a bathroom or upstairs in a blow up bed with a neary-by bathroom. Since I am an early morning consitutional type person, I opted for upstairs! I worried a bit about the blow up bed, but they have changed (for the better) since I last slept in one, and it was completely comfortable!

Pat needed to go to the Air Museum in Nanton. (It is really called the Bomber Command Museum of Canada.) She not only had a financial bequest for them, but boxes of magazines dating to the 1950s and books and model planes. A lot of things to donate! I told her that on behalf of libraries, museums, and archives everywhere, I was impressed that a financial donation was a part of it, because gifts are not free--there is a processing cost. Libraries, museums, and archives really appreciate receiving financial support to help make gifts a part of their collections.

Lavon took Pat to Nanton, while I got to stay home and receive a visit from David, Millie, and Ethan! Lavon and Pat had a great time, and Lavon took a picture of Pat with a plane while there. It would have been fun to go there with them had I been able to be two places at once!

David arrived just before Lavon and Pat left, so he and the kids got to say hello before they left. This becomes important later in the story of the day. Right now, though, I should say that Dennis is a champion pancake maker, and he had made pancakes for me, Helen, and Pat--well, then Millie arrived hungry, so Dennis made a pancake for her, so Ethan needed a pancake, too, so he and David were true little hobbits and got "second breakfast" thanks to Dennis playing chef. Dennis also is a very good kitchen cleaner; he did that task many times on Saturday!

Millie and Ethan were such good children! They were obedient and mostly on the quiet side, and very sweet to be around. They were not afraid of anybody, including me. I felt like our FaceTime calls have made my face familiar to them.

We spent a lot of time outside, because David's children love the outdoors, especially Ethan! Lavon and Dennis live in such a beautiful setting, with lots of walking paths through trees, and the river is nearby. We started out playing in the back yard, but the kids could see the path, and Millie wanted to take one of the scooters out and ride there. So she took the scooter, and Ethan took the little bike-ish toy that he called a truck, and we were going to walk to a park that Lavon had told me about.

Well, that didn't last long--Millie decided she didn't want to ride the scooter (probably a good idea because we were headed up hill) so we went back to the gate to put the scooter back in the yard. While we did that, Ethan made the mistake of getting off of his ride, and poof--Millie had taken it over. That caused a bit of unhappiness and cries of "Truck! Truck!" David and I tried to monitor taking turns. David would remind Millie that "Caring is sharing!"--a motto that she likes to remind people about when she wants to be shared with, but that she likes to ignore when she is the one doing the sharing! Still, even though there were occasional bursts of unhappiness over the need to share, it all worked out. Once Millie could see the park, she was happy to run ahead with her dad, and let me stay behind with Ethan on his "truck."

Then at the park, there was a "car" to ride on, and so of course that was the thing that both of them wanted to ride on! Here is a picture of Ethan on it:

Millie did want to swing, and I pushed her a bit, and David pushed her a bit. She also tried a couple of slides, but was disappointed that they were slower than she hoped. She wanted to go whizzing down, but these slides were not very whizzy! 

We played until the kids were ready for a change, then we went back to Lavon's yard (a little bit fighting over the bike/"truck" on the way) and discovered that the slide in their yard was the best! It was so whizzy compared to the park's slides. Millie also really liked the cool swing that she could make go all by herself. (Although she also liked to be pushed sometimes!) While she was occupied there, Ethan could have the "truck" to himself. He would drive it on and off the porch, going over the slight drop saying "Stuck!" even though he wasn't, and could easily move the vehicle on and off. Here is a picture of Millie on the swing, and you can also see how lovely the surrounding area is.

I also took the opportunity to take a selfie with David. We were standing in the shade of the porch for this photo.

When we went inside, Dennis found a few toys for the kids, and sat and worked on a puzzle with them for awhile. (They never did finish the puzzle, but Ethan enjoyed cleaning it up later--he missed only two pieces, and even tried to put the lid on it. David says he likes to clean up--that is a great trait for a child to have!) 

Then it was lunchtime, so we had rolls with cheese and meat (leftover from the luncheon on Friday) with fruit. Millie enjoyed Helen's company at the table, but she did not eat much of her food, honestly. When it became clear that the kids were not going to eat any more, David and I took the kids out for another walk. Dennis pointed out the way to the river, so this time, that was where we went.

We did not take any vehicles--nice way to avoid confrontation over the favorite thing to ride on! We did see a garter snake ("My first time seeing a snake!" said Millie) and David saw a dead mouse, but besides that, only grasshoppers and plenty of moaquitos! 

Full disclosure, there was a bit of a steep spot descending to the river bed, and I sort of fell, and caught myself with my same injured left hand because of course I did. Apparently, my left is my go-to hand for saving myself. I was glad I was wearing my splint, because that helped me not hurt it too badly!

Millie had her eye on that river--there were people on assorted boats or floating devices wending their way along, and she wanted to be in the water. So when I asked them to stop for a photo opportunity, Millie wasn't too happy. I was stopping her from going in the water!

Now she is happier! This is what she wanted to do!

We didn't sprend as much time at the river as the kids hoped to because mosquitos! They didn't bother me too much, but I think I am less tasty than David is! Millie came once, then got in the mud a bit, and then felt she needed to go back to the river and wash the mud off her hands--she was about to repeat that a couple of times, but David headed her off from doing so. She didn't want to put her sandy feet in her crocs, but eventually decided her feet would be happier in shoes than bare because the path was rocky.

When we got back, it wasn't too long before Lavon and Pat were back. Then, Millie asks, "When are we going to have lunch?" I said, "We already did have lunch. Remember, you had a cheese sandwich?" Millie felt that was NOT lunch. "No, when are we all going to sit down and eat together?" I said, "Well, we already did. We sat down and ate with Helen and Dennis." She motions at Lavon and Pat and gives me a questioning look. "Yes, Lavon and Pat were not there when we ate, but it was still lunch," I said. Millie thought all the people had to be there to call it lunch!

I had the thought to have Lavon take pictures of me with my much loved visitors. She took lots of pictures! (I should have also taken pictures with all of us! My mother would weep! I didn't do it!) David shared all of the photos on Fam Jam, but here ai will only share two:

I like this picture because we told Ethan to smile big and show his teeth, and wow! He really showed off his teeth! 

In the family chat, David said "I just posted all so Mom could choose the best ones." And then he commented, "I should have done my hair." Josie posted the above photo, chosen from the crop, and said, "I attempted but not perfectly." (Meaning she attempted to choose the best one.) David said, "You did my hair?" They are so funny!!

David was standing in the kitchen holding Ethan, and they both looked so cute, that I could not resist taking this cute picture:

And then they needed to be on their way, running an errand to Ikea on their way home. Millie very pleasantly said goodbye, sharing a hug with both Helen and Pat. Millie got hungry, so Dennis gave her a cookie, and then I took a bun and gave them each half once they were in their car seats. David took my bag of things for them with him (I gave him my blingy bag that I bought just before going to Austria in July--Patrick won't have to carry that bag for ME ever again. Maybe for David or someone in his family!) and I took his bag of gifts going the other direction.

When they got home, David sent me this picture of Millie wearing her BYU outfit. I also sent an outfit for Ethan, and Game Day shirts for David and Ruth, as well as some Argentinian treats and Moom Pies, which are sold at the dollar store but are very like some Argentinian treats that they like. Who knew? And of course some games that David had ordered for himself and had sent to our house. We have had one since before Christmas! Oh yes--the picture!

David also had ordered some fingernail things with a game, so Millie is wearing some of those on her fingernails, too. I hope Ethan's little outfit fits soon. At least he will grow into it, if it is too big!

After they left, I was super tired and took a short nap. I don't know if it was children or the sun that tired me out, or a combination of both, but wow! I needed that nap. I woke up to rain and needed to close my window. Actually, it was a loud bang that woke me up. It was the door to the room that Pat is staying in slamming shut. I remembered that her window was fully open, so I went in to shut that window, because it was raining quite hard. Also the wind was strong and was trying to blow the screen into the room. I wrestled it into place, shut the window, and came downstairs to get paper towels to mop up some of the rain--the blinds were quite wet, as was the window sill. But to me, the rain was a treat! I think they have had so much of it in Alberta this summer that they are less thrilled than I was. It was also fun to hear thunder, which has been rare in Utah, since rain has been rare!

Lavon and Dennis provided a delicious dinner of corn on the cob, salad, baked potatoes, and pie for dessert--the pie that they stopped to buy just outside of Raymond when Pat and I were surprised by that unexpected stop. So we were the beneficiaries of that!! Lavon and Dennis are wonderful hosts. So welcoming and thoughtful!

Raymond to Okotoks

 After Pat had left her donation and gotten her receipt from the library, we headed out to search for a small Canadian flag on a stick that Pat wanted for David's burial. I thought maybe the Pharmasave would have one? So, for those who think that Raymond is Pharmasave-less, well there is one now on the corner of main street where there was a big building that when we lived there was a used furniture store owned by the Shewchucks, and beside it was Raymond Pharmacy. The new Pharmasave takes up the space of both of those former establishments.

But it didn't have any flags anymore--too late in the season. We asked the girl where we might find one, and she thought the Home Hardware might. We had driven from the library, which is at the end of the block on main street on the southeast corner (only across the street) to the Pharmasave which is on the northwest corner, and the Home Hardware is actually closer to the library than the Pharmasave. Joke was on me for trying to make walking easier on Pat! She said she could walk to the Hardware Store if she used her cane. So off we went.

But before we got to Home Hardware, there was that little strip mall where the Treasury Branch was (and still is, though not in the exact location it was in the 1980s) and on one side was Snow's Pharmacy. When there was a Raymond Pharmacy, it was owned by the Steeds, and I think that it was sold to the Snows, and I had been feeling bad for them about the Pharmasave, thinking it had put them out of business, but there they were, just in a different location. So we decided to look there. Pay dirt! They keep their Canadian Souvenir corner busy all year! We succeeded in getting a little flag that cost $1.58. 

As we were about to cross the street to go back to the car, Pat said she sure would like to find a place to sit down and rest and maybe have a little bakery treat like a brownie before we headed over to Ron's house. I said to wait for me, and I would run back to Snow's Pharmacy and ask the very kind and helpful clerk where there was such a place. She recommended a new little place called Junction 52. 

It was down the street just barely past Home Hardware!! (We should have stayed parked at the library!!) 

I almost didn't see it's name on the storefront--instead I was looking at its Canadian flags--they had found some for sure! Pat noticed the sign. We went in. The place was packed! Every table was filled to capacity. Pat was tired, and she went to the bar stools, and sat in the corner one so she could lean against the wall. I sat beside her. We didn't know how things worked there, but I should have gone to the register, because after there was a line of 4 people, I realized I needed to be in the line, too.

Pat just wanted a piece of chocolate cake that we could see on display, but the piece looked way too big. I didn't know what I wanted except a nice glass of cool water. When it was my turn to order, I asked the girl if I could please have a half a piece of cake. She said we don't do that. I said "I am happy to pay the whole price ($5) but I only want half the cake. You can do whatever you want with the other half. Throw it away, eat it yourself, I don't care." She said, "Well, can I put it in a box for you?" I said no, because we were not from there, and we didn't want to haul a piece of cake around with us. She said okay, she would figure out what to do with the extra half.

For myself, I ordered the bowl of pasta salad (also $5) and I expected a small bowl, but it was this great huge bowl!! I asked for a second plate so I could share it with Pat. It was still a chore to mostly finish it. (I was so glad I got only the bowl! The larger portion would have been enough to feed a family!)

There were some high school girls in line ahead of me, and while they were waiting for their yogurt parfaits, the clerk asked them if they wanted to have a half a piece of cake, and they were happy to take it. Problem solved.

Then we headed over to Ron and Deanne's house and enjoyed a nice visit with Ron and Deanne and Brody. At one point, Brody headed out the door and called "I'm gonna get some ice!" And what I heard was "mice"--took me a minute to change the image in my head! 

Let me just sing the praises of Brody for a minute. He is the best son. Like, he is the same age as Patrick (35) and he does work part time, but he mostly dedicates himself to caring for his parents. He is actually Ron's grandson, but he and Betty adopted Brody when he was a baby, and when Betty died, he was only a young teen. That must have been a hard loss. But Deanne just has mothered him so well. For Darlla's funeral, he took time off work to drive them down to Utah, because he wanted them to be safe. I took the time to thank him for being so awesome to them, as they are pushing 90, and he told me he just wants them to be happy. He said he could not imagine putting them into a care center; that they need to be in their home, and he intends to keep it that way. He stayed busy setting up the yard for everyone to come back to the house after the burial. (He needed the ice for the drinks cooler.)

Pat started getting anxious, so we didn't wait for Ron and Deanne, but drove out to Temple Hill on our own so we would be early. Darrel was handling things with the cemetery because his cousin George on the Navratil side is the point person for the cemetery, so they were already there. Also Lavon and Dennis and Helen, and also Daelene and Jesse, beat us there.

Soon everything was ready and many cousins showed up. Here are some pictures:

Here is Jim, Lori, Kerry, Rod, Dennis, and Jesse. You can see the flowers Pat bought, and the Canadian flag we searched for on the corner of the lot. 

And here is Jesse again, then Lavon, Helen, Pat, Darrel, Deanne, Priscilla, and Ron. LeRon and Colleen were standing beside me, and I have no picture of us.

Same group as above, only Daelene had walked over, so she is standing there by her mom. 

Here is Pat, assisted by Darrel and George, lowering the urn of David's ashes, inside a nice bag, into the opening. The headstone is actually for David's parents, and he is being lowered to rest on top of his mother, our aunt Zelpha. Pat has asked George to help her figure out a way to add some type of marker with his name on it.

This part of the cemetary is our family--they are not all there (like my parents, and Uncle Alma's family, for example, are elsewhere in this same cemetary. Brody helped me to download the pdf of the cemetery map. He was very thorough to make sure I would not lose the link.) But to the north of Aunt Zelpha and Uncle Arnold are my grandparents Hancock, their daughters Mary Beth and Ila June, and Uncle Frank and Aunt Celia are there, is as Ron's brother Ray. Nice little family community.

Channeling my mother, I asked George to take a photo of our whole group, and he took a few. 

The ceremony was lovely. Dennis dedicated the grave, and people shared their memories of David. David had had dogs, and people shared stories about his dog named Chief who would only catch rocks, never balls. I only remembered a dog named Prince. Now, I am twenty years younger than Ron or David, so clearly there was room for dogs I didn't know about in their lives. But it turned out Pat only knew Prince too. (Actually, when Uncle Arnold died in 1974, David and Pat took the aged Prince home to their place in Utah, which is where he died and is buried in their pet cemetery.)

Actually, my earliest memory of meeting Pat when I was a child and David brought her up to Canada, and we met her at Uncle Arnold's house, involved Prince. I was of course afraid of Prince, because I was afraid of all dogs, but Prince and David played catch together on that occasion, and even I could see that the dog could be fun, and I could see how much David enjoyed Prince, and Pat was joining in with David having fun with the dog. Wow. Fun with a dog--imagine! New world view for young me! I even threw the (wet doggy mung) ball a few times!

We all headed to Ron and Deanne's house, and the cousins had provided a lot of food and we all enjoyed visiting. I only took one picture there, a selfie with me and my sister. This is the best of the bunch--I promise that others were WORSE. Hahahaha!

I told Lavon we should probably head out in time to get to Okotoks in the light, because neither Pat nor I are comfortable night drivers. We almost made it. But we are a family that says goodbye over and over, and so it took a hot minute to get going. 

We were to follow Dennis, because we had to stop at Helen's for her to use the restroom--she cannot navigate the stairs to get to the facilities in Ron's house--and we also needed to stop at Daelene's son Garrett's house to drop something off to him. We didn't know that they were also going to stop just outside of Raymond at a little pie/fruit stand, so that was a surprise.

Dennis is easy to follow--he was being careful to keep me in his sights, and I was being careful to stay caught up, but in Lethbridge, as he turned to go to Garrett's (after me successfully follwoing him to Helen's) there was a red light at the wrong time, so I was stuck, and the next road had only two lanes of traffic and no shoulder, so we momentarily lost them, but Lavon called, and we turned around and got back on track.

And then it was smooth sailing to Okotoks, except that it got dark sooner than expected, so the last half hour was driving in the dark. Most of that was okay because I knew the way. (Also--the Happy Face Barn now has LIGHTS on the happy face so you can even see it in the dark. Like this, only without the "Happy Holidays" and the snow!) Where it got confusing was when we got off the freeway, using an overpass exit that didn't used to be there. So I thought we were at the exit up by Darrel's but we were actually not, so when we went into Okotoks as if coming from High River, my brain was having a meltdown a little bit! 

And then we arrived and I was exhausted and was happy to fall into bed and sleep.

Last day of work and first day of travel

 My last day of work for the month of August was Wednesday August 27. It was our annual libraray conference day. Because of timing, I would need to drive myself to Springville and the library would send a van to pick me up from a church parking lot. I decided just to go and work in the library instead, and then leave early to run errands before heading out. Josie's friend Eliza would be driving me to Pat Garrett's house for our trip to Southern Alberta, and we planned to leave early on Thursday morning from her house.

So lucky that I was in the library! My student Christina, who married my student Doug 21 or 22 years ago, came to campus, accompanying their son David, who is starting as a Freshman though an RM age 20. Christina looks exactly the same, but David has changed a lot since I last saw him! I told him that it is very nice to meet him when he isn't a baby! Christina remembered coming into my office to nibble on crackers to help with nausea during her pregnancy that resulted in baby David. (No food in the library! in those days!)

There are David, Christina, and me (wearing the same shirt I was wearing in the picture with Garret last week!) I was so happy to see Christina. I have seen Doug a couple of times in the intervening years, but this was our first time to reconnect in about 20 years. I am glad they found me--the library looked like a foreign country compared to how it was when Christina worked here 20 years ago.

I did all my errands, went home and packed, went and picked up Josie, went home and ate dinner and then Eliza picked us up and we were off to Pat's house, where we met her neighbor Shirleen, who is an absolute gem of a neighbor, and also her other half, Larry, who came over to check the oil in the vehicle, and to help Pat replace her US flag with her Canadian flag. IDK why it was important to change it, but with my one bad wrist and Pat at 81 trying to climb a ladder, I was sure happy when Larry showed up and so pleasantly volunteered to take over.

Pat and I got an early start, leaving at 5:45. I was driving, and she was navigating. I am sure I inspired confidence when I RAN A RED LIGHT near the freeway entrance! It was unfamiliar to me, and the intersections were close together, and it was raining, and I was so intent on getting into the right lane to get on the freeway on ramp that I just ran it, apparently. I didn't know it until Pat said "Myrna, the light is red!" Oops. No harm, no foul. Phew.

I drove to Idaho Falls--light rain almost constant. Pat drove to Butte--also light rain almost constant. We were loving it, after the heat and dryness of this summer in Utah. I drove from Butte to Great Falls, and rain was constant and also a bit heavier at times. We could check into our hotel at 3 pm, and got there about 3:15. If the hotel wasn't already paid for, I would have been tempted to keep going, but we kept to our plan. Pat had a nap while I went on my twenty minute walk. And got rained on a little bit, but it was still nice outside.

We went to Denny's (right beside the hotel, a short walk away) for dinner and both conincidentally chose the same thing--a Denver omelette--and took our time, not finishing until about 6:15 or so. Walked back, took turns in the shower, and went to sleep by 7:20. Which is super early, but we had been up and driving for a long time and apparently we were tired. We were both in our beds reading when I could hear the evidence that Pat was asleep, so I got up and turned out the light and went to sleep because I kept nodding off over my book anyway!

Our hotel provided breakfast beginning at 6 AM, and we were the first ones there. It was quite nice, with hash browns and scrambled eggs and sausage and fruit, etc. Then I drove to Shelby, where we gassed up, and Pat drove to the border. I had looked it up and the app said there was a zero minute wait at the border, and we had a very nice and polite officer. Pat had the paperwork needed to transport human remains (since the whole point of our trip was to do just that) and we were good to go. He didn't even ask about the gazillion boxes we had in the very full car--well, she said she had a donation for the Air Museum in Nanton, and things for her sisters-in-law, and I said I had gifts for David's family.

But then Pat had to ask about her BYRNA launcher. She and her neighbor Larry were convinced she needed to bring that because two (old) women traveling alone? DANGEROUS. I did not worry about danger at all. We were traveling in the day, stopping only at places where there are lots of people. I thought having a weapon was dangerous! They thought that this was legal in Canada, but I thought that what matters is TRANSPORTING it across the border. They always ask about weapons. My google search yielded advice NOT to try to cross the border with it, and Pat agreed not to take it because it was expensive and she didn't want to risk having it confiscated.

But still she asked about it because she wanted to know if she COULD have brought it. He kept saying, "And did you bring it?" No. And then she would talk some more and he would say "Is it in your luggage?" And she said, "Oh, no, I was not going to risk it. I left it home." 

Pat drove to Lethbridge, and then I took over driving on our fruitless search to find a bank that would trade us some US cash for Canadian cash to pay the cemetery fee for burying David's ashes. They wanted her to have an account. One bank suggested a CASH MONEY place, and gave us an address, and also I looked them up, and we spent too much time trying to find it, before I had the idea to ask Lavon to bring the cash, and trade her for US dollars, which she did.

Then we were in search of a small Canadian flag on a stick. We went to Walmart, but in late August their Canadian stash is smaller because it isn't tourist season anymore. But Pat bought some flowers for the grave. And an umbrella, because rain also accompanied us on our drive from Great Falls to about even with Stirling. 

We drove on to Raymond. First stop was the public library, because Pat had a bequest for the library. She had a cashier's check donaton to give. She asked for the head librarian, which was Kayla. We didn't know that Kayla had just started in that role, and the retiring librarian, Faye, would need to help her figure out what to do.

That librarian turned to me and asked, "And who are you?" And I said I was Myrna Layton, and was about to explain how I came to be there, when she said, "I thought so! I am Faye!" And it was Faye Birch Woolley Geddes. Faye was our cousin Nola's age, but we knew her because when she was only 16 or 17, she married Tom Woolley from our ward, who was much older than her. Tom is older than our brother Bruce, and Faye is younger than me. Tom was also...unusual. So.

Faye finished high school and it happened that my parents and I were at her high school graduation because we went to Rod and Nola's graduation--they had ended up graduating the same year--and there was Faye in their graduating class. Another connection was that when we lived in Raymond from 1983-1986, they lived in our ward and I taught piano lessons to her older children. Tammy, and one of her brothers. Later, after we moved away, I learned that Faye had left Tom, and was not particularly surprised. I have wondered about her for years. She was a quiet, gentle soul, and I always liked her. And here she has been the head librarian in Raymond for 22.5 years!

And here she is with me and Pat.

I told Faye that she seemed like Faye, and also she didn't seem like Faye to me! I showed her picture to Colleen, and she said she would never have guessed that was the Faye she knew.

Faye said that when I knew her she was so timid and afraid, and that she has really changed--gained confidence, and become very happy in her life and in her second marriage. It was a lovely surprise to reconnect with her. 

Okay, I am going to stop there for now, and continue later!

Weekend Post

 This is our former student Garrett Porter from many years ago. This is the second time he has surprised me with a visit in the library. The first time he was on a work trip and happened to have some time on his hands. This time, he and his wife, Heidi, came for a wedding. I had not met Heidi before, so it was nice to meet her. Also she volunteered to take a picture. The last time Garrett dropped in alone, there was nobody nearby to take a picture. The first time he came, I had no clue who he was! Back in the day, he was chubbier, had some hair on top (though even as a student, it was thinning), and no beard. This time, since it had only been a couple of years, I recognized him. He lives in Texas, which is the state from which he and Heidi both came to Utah, and met here while students. (He started dating her at the very end of his time at BYU, so I never met her back then.)

The same day, Newell Dayley dropped in to ask if the library would accept a bound copy of his dissertation, which I was happy to do. I did not take a picture with him! Adam and I were in a meeting when he came, but I waved him in. Adam was a bit tickled to meet the composer of "Faith in Every Footstep." I associate him more with primary songs, like "I feel my Savior's Love." 

Then Friday came! Boy howdy, did it ever come! 

At about 7:30, I went out to water the plants in the back yard, because the weather has been holding steady at 100 degrees, cooling off into not cool enough in the mid seventies. So the plants get thirsty.

And I also pick dandelions, so I was using the hose, and leaning over to pick dandelions, and somehow I tripped and fell backwards onto my fanny, but chose to try to help break the fall with my one free hand, the left, and ouchie! I did not land well. I was so worried about my left wrist, but it didn't seem brokedn. Phew.

When I got the library, I decided to take the four empty boxes in my office to the car. (Rachel had been told that she could choose stuff from Grandpa Frank's kitchen for her apartment.) Every day, I forgot to have us carry them to the car. Rachel was staying on campus on Friday, so I decided to move the boxes in the morning, because I didn't want to have a lot to carry to the car at the end of the day, because my left wrist was super sore. It had already suffered carrying my computer bag and purse both into the library; I didn't want to have to carry both of those AND four empty boxes AND open the doors along the way.

So I decided to just do two boxes, nested, at once, which I could carry with only my right hand. I got them, and went to the elevator, and pushed the button for "3." And immediately, the elevator started to rock around like a blender, but it did not descend. I tried pushing the doors to open. Nope.

So I was stuck. Because the elevator was intermittently rocking quite violently, I sat on the floor because I didn't want to lose my balance and break a bone, or further injure my sore left wrist. I tried the doors from time to time, and I pushed the emergency button so I could notify that I was stuck in the library elevator.

So then I knew someone was coming. Hurray! I still tried to open the door so I could excape the agitation of the periodic rocking, and one time, it worked! The door opened partly, not enough, but I thrust the boxes through so the door couldn't close all the way, and then slipped out! Double hurray! I picked up the boxes in my right hand, and used the stairs, stopping at the security desk to apprise them of the elevator situation.

And then I didn't get out of the building because a young man asked me for help. I could see that he worked for "BYU Food to Go" due to his apparel with their logo emblazoned on it. He was looking for the dock, which is at the south end of the building, and he and his big full utility cart full of bottled water were at the north end of the building. I started to try to explain how to get there, then just decided to walk him there. (Which included an elevator ride--but NOT on the broken one!) I didn't even think about leaving the boxes somewhere, but just carried them all the way to the dock, and all the way back. That was silly.

Finally I got them to the car, and made a second trip with the other two--only avoiding the elevator and without interruption.

Then I did too much moving of my left wrist. I put some books I was moving from REF to STACKS away--I tried to do it mostly one-handed, but...

And then I moved most of the oversize CDs into a new home. Again, trying to do it one-handed, but overdoing still.

And my wrist really hurt and was obviously miscoloured and swollen. And it was Friday afternoon, and what if I broke a bone? I needed to know, and I needed to not have to go to the emergency room, right?

So I went to Instacare. 

There were no patients when I arrived. Two came later, but it wasn't busy and yet just ate up the time. I saw a nice nurse (F), and then waited, saw a nice doctor (F), saw a nice x-ray tech (M) and then waited about a half hour before the doctor returned to tell me it wasn't broken, but would need a splint and if it wasn't healed in two weeks, she would want me to see a sports medicine specialist. (Because these are the doctors to see for injuries you get while dancing with the garden hose!)

And then I waited some more. Eventually I texted Josie "I am going to be late..." (to pick her up from work) and then after a while I texted "Do you think they forgot me?"

While I was thinking about what to do because I was pretty sure that they DID forget me--the door on the left (Staff only) opened and my original nice nurse looked absolutely shocked to see me sitting there! "You are still here?" she exclaimed. "Are you still waiting for your splint?'

"Yes." I agreed. "I am so sorry," she said. "I will be right back with the supplies."

And she did come right back, and a couple of minutes later, I was ready to go. She kept apologizing, but I was like, "This is just what my day is like today!"

I was only a half hour late to pick up Josie. 

It was very hard to manipulate the steering wheel to turn corners on Friday afternoon, but thankfully Saturday was better. Josie and I went with Rachel to her Grandpa Frank's funeral, which was just lovely. His three sons spoke, and it was just the right blend of happy and sad, and less than an hour long. Then back to Grandpa Frank's house for a barbeque.

Here is a picture of Reid and Darla and all of Reid's children, with Rachel standing in for her dad, holding a pciture of him at age 18.

Uncle Matt was taking this picture for real, but I decided to jump in and take one to send to Nancy because the H family is not the best at sharing pictures. 

Darla was being very good about taking pictures and sending them to Nancy, though. Nancy had been disappointed that there was no picture taken of her three kids with Grandpa Frank while he was still alive a few weeks ago, so Reid was scrolling through his phone looking for pictures, and found one of the kids with Grandma Pat. "Send it to her now," Darla insisted. (It is too easy to get busy and forget!)

And then Josie and Rachel got to work with Reid loading up our car with stuff for Rachel! He took a picture of my car with the full load--I hope he shared that with Nancy! I don't have it!

On the way home, I completely missed my usual exit. Rachel said, "What temple is that?" And I was like "What? I have never seen that temple before!" "How could that be true?" she asked "You live here!"

Well--I had no clue there was a temple right there right by the freeway because I MISSED MY EXIT! So I had not driven there before, not since that temple was built.

So we got off at Provo Center Street and backtracked our way to Rachel's soon-to-be dorm to drop off three boxes of leftover doughnuts for her friend (an RA) Paige to hand out to dorm dwellers.

Then home to completely empty my car. (Too hot in the garage--see note about 100 degrees earlier!) And then we all crashed.

But this morning--RAIN!!!! The high will only be in the 80s today!! Triple hurray!

HBLL 5th Floor

 Now that construction has moved to level five, this cartoon posted on Facebook by Richard Hacken, one of our Humanities Faculty, now retired (who is my cousin by several generations on both my dad's side and my mom's side), is very apropos!

The fifth floor is designated a quiet area--and quiet areas are rare these days; most of the library is considered "collaborative" space. So it is pretty funny how noisy the quiet area can be!

Mini Miracle

 Nancy's daughter Rachel is staying chez nous until she moves into student housing later this month.  She has a job in the library working for my friend Janice (so Rachel will be working with music materials in cataloguing). But Janice has been oh so busy this summer!

First she went to Salzburg for the IAML conference, as I did, and then she went to Switzerland for a few days of vacation, and then she had a MOUG meeting in Ohio, and then she had I think some meeting for a new Audio-Visual cataloguing thing she is the president of, and then she went to Minnesota with her husband to help be in charge of a scout trip canoeing in lakes and doing portages.

She did not return to work until August 6, and then she would only be at work until yesterday, August 11, because then she was going to a quilting thing in Idaho for the rest of the week.

So, if Rachel wanted to get working, and the whole point of her coming out early was to get working, earning money, and getting comfortable with work before she moves and starts classes and stuff, then she needed to get hired and trained while Janice was here for that small window of time.

On Wednesday August 6, Janice and Rachel did the inital stuff, but then it was over to Workday and whatever happened there. So Thursday was just a waiting game day. Rachel texted me to say that they emailed her to do something online. She did that. Then they contacted her to make an appointment to do her I-9 stuff. They offered her a 3:15 appointment that day. I said TAKE IT. Because then she could hopefully work on Friday and Monday before Janice left on Tuesday.

I was supposed to leave at 3:30 to go and pick up Ben, and then pick up Miriam at 4:30, and then Josie at 5:00. So I was squeezing her in, to run and pick her up and get her back to BYU, because it was already the afternoon. I was in a meeting that ended at 2 when I got her text, and was supposed to have another meeting at 3, which I decided to skip. (Rachel had already walked to and from campus once, and the day was very hot like 95F, so I told her I would pick her up.)

Anyways, I had a little bit of time so I was trying to finish a project I was working on in the DVDs, and I did finish, but I lost track of time, and thought it was 2:30 when it was actually 2:50. So when I stopped, it was already fully 3:00. Yikes! After I walk to my car, I live 7 minutes from campus, and then 7 minutes back. I was going to have to hurry, and she would be late!

By the time I hurried to my car, and was leaving the underground parking lot, it was 3:05. I had ten minutes to drive 14 minutes worth of driving if she was going to be on time. I was afraid that if she was late, she would lose her spot, and potentially the opportunity to start work on Friday!

So I prayed. I said, "Please open a path so she can be on time and get her paperwork done so she can work tomorrow."

The path was there! It was a miracle. I dropped her off at the Wilkinson Center at 3:12, time enough for her to be on time. I parked and came to my office, and Janice texted me at 3:19 that Rachel was approved to work! So she started the next day as hoped.

I also got to all the other places more or less on time. Three minutes late for Ben, ten minutes late for Miriam (because I forgot the D&D printouts in my office that they would need for the evening activity--the whole reason I picked up Ben--so had to stop and get them) but Miriam was late getting out of class (at the organ workshop) so really only waited a couple of minutes, and pretty much on time for Josie.

That drive--is impossible to do in only 7 minutes. From 3:05 to 3:12!! BYU to home and back. Without speeding. Unbelievable. I call that a miracle. A small one, but quite miraculous indeed!