Lessons from the Brits Week 39 February 1st to February 7th

Wahoo!  It is half way!  We have now finished 39 weeks and have 39 weeks to go.  I am not sure if they went fast or slow but part of my heart will always be homesick.  I miss you all.

LIE
Lychee:  This is the craziest fruit ever.  The outside is a bit hard almost like a shell.  You kind of crack it and then peel it.  It is an all white fruit with a brown seed in the middle.  I like it but I think Brad is still considering.  They are way better fresh than in a tin.

I sat an apple out to show the size.  Here they are with peel, seed only, half eaten and peeled.

 

 

1. Fireside
Up and at it.  Mulholland’s wanted to go to Crawley but they had room in the van so we drove over to East Grindstead.  Orton’s were just going to their car so we gave them a ride as well.  Church was very nice and then home.  It is fast Sunday (Mormon’s fast 2 meals the first Sunday of every month and then we give the money we would have spent on food to the church to help with the ‘poor among us.’ ) so we didn’t prepare any food.  We met with Brother McClellan and got the slides that we wanted all ready for our talks tonight. 
We went through our talks a bunch and then made sure our slides and video would play in the Visitor’s Center.  Then we came home and broke our fast, ate a bowl of soup, got ready and went to the Visitor’s Center about 10 to 6.  They were glad to see us.  We actually did get a nice turn out, not huge by any means, but the room was mostly full.  We did notice every person from our shift was there but one.  Never Mind. 
The Brown’s gave our prayers and we were on.  I told the story of the Teton Dam Flood and how pray and the promptings of the Holy Ghost saved our children lives.  Brad told the story of the wreck in New Mexico and how the 3 men risked their lives, injuring themselves as they did, to save a woman’s life who immediately said she was so depressed she wished she were dead.  He likened that to the Savior giving His life for us and then we turn our backs on the atonement and mock His gift.  He told some other stories as well and was just brilliant.  We felt good about it and have had so many people thank us that I am glad we did it.
We came home and fixed a bit more food and called the kids.  Wonderful night to be over.

The Sister Missionaries with President/Sister Millar.  & us!

The Anderson's                                          

The Pinegar's

2.  Uncruise.
Ah!  Sleeping in is wonderful.  We finally got up and had a bit of a walk.  I did the wash and cleaned a bit.  It was a nice relaxing morning.
President Johnson asked for all the information about our cruise and had made a few calls about it.  He was not allowed to get any information because of the privacy thing, so he gave us a list of things to ask about and sent us back to the travel company.  It was not our favorite thing to do but we went in and had a bit of a chat for about an hour.  They said there was nothing they could do because we canceled after 24 hours (office hours—we were about an hour over).  They made several calls and were ever so nice but never pointing out all the mistakes they had made.  Nice try but no cigar.  We then did a bit more shopping, bought groceries and headed home. 
LeeAnn cut my hair and then they had us over for soup and brownies.  It was really good but we have no idea what kind it was.  Then we headed home and to  the lounge for more Dickens. 
When we were talking to Annie Hartvigsen she asked what it was like living here and Brad told her it was like living in college dorms when you are 70. 

It actually snowed January 31st and again on the February 3rd,

but this was a handy place to put the pictures.

3.  Early, early.
We had to be there early this morning as Brad and I were doing the first session.  We finished that one and were just eating a bite when they came running and asked us to do another one.  I rushed out of the canteen and hit a lady in the arm with the door.  I was just sick.  Sorry!
We came home and had a bit of a nap.  Then I fixed rolls for tea with the Roger’s.    I thought it was a 6:30 so I had them ready to come out of the oven just on time.  Opps!  It was 6:00.  We ran over a bit late and brought the rolls for the second course.  They had vegetable soup and then salmon wellington. Dessert was meringue shells with fruit and cream.  Very nice. 
After wards we all headed to the lounge for another disk of Dickens.  This is quite the story.

4.  Late, late.
I had to be there early but Brad didn’t so he was puttering around and I wasn’t watching the time.  I got out of the bath and realized I had 13 minutes to  be dressed, at the temple, dressed in white and to my shift.  Breakfast would have been nice as well.  You probably won’t believe that I made it.  When Brad came in he realized he was supposed to have been there early to so he was really late.  Great start.
The day was fine.  President Johnson said he had loved our talks so that was very nice. 
After our shift I worked on my project until it was time for Dickens.  They were made for TV so they end just when you want to know more.  Very interesting yarn, this one.

 5.  Happy Birthday Jessica! and a Monkey's Birthday as well.
We had to be early again and I swear it is getting harder.  It was basically a good day at the temple and we made it home to take a nap.  Brad’s back is still hurting.  We had our evening tea and set up for the final night of Bleak House.  We have all had fun watching that together in our college dorm.
We finished in time that I decided I had to start catching up on the blog.  I worked till very late and have hope that I can get my life in order again.  Part of the reason we stayed up so late was to call Jessica and then we were so tired we just went to bed.  Old Age!
It truly was a monkey's birthday today because we got snow, sleet, rain, hail, clouds, and sunshine all on the same day.  You and the monkeys Jessica!

 

6.  Gave Up!
We finished our shift at the temple in relative good form.  Brad gave up and we called to get a chiropractor appointment.  We drove over to East Grindstead and had an hour of testing and evaluations to hear that we need to come back later for treatment.  We hope this works.  We wondered about going out but decided tomorrow night would be better so we came home and had chicken fingers and chips.  I worked on the project and on the blog and Brad read. 

7.  PAIN
Brad’s back is just killing him and I woke up with a terrible headache.  It actually started when we got a call from SVE at 1:30 this morning.  Since we were up we tried to call Jessica again but she had just left for mutual.  That meant I couldn’t get back to sleep so it was a very long night.  When I heard the alarm I almost cried.  The day went fine for me but Brad was in so much pain some guy gave him a pill that didn’t kill the pain but made him so he didn’t care.  He was telling really funny stories about how he was trying to give everyone a hug and break out into a song and dance. 
I made it home first and took more pills and headed to bed.  Brad came home and filled the bath up.  After he soaked I got up and soaked.  We both were so miserable that we didn’t go out to eat with the temple group that night.  Our plan was to go to Smith and Western for our ½ mission mark but it is going to have to be when we feel better.  We watched some Downton Abbey and I worked on the blog.  

Nine months down and nine months to go.  There are times I think the first half went fast and in another way it feels like I have been here all my life.  Only 3 more weeks and we get a vacation that we can’t go on but at least we will have some time off.  That will be lovely indeed.

Be sweet, what need I say more?

Get more sleep.

Our love,

The Parkinson’s