Date-able?

I didn't think I was old enough to have a date-able child, but my daughter convinced me otherwise when she turned 16 this month. There have been no dates, yet, but she's still date-able. She's driving too. And she's cute.

My father's not helping matters with this daughter, pointing out all the cute returned missionaries in his ward ... and explaining that if she were to get married right out of high school, I could be a grandmother - well - very soon.

At least she's not boy-crazy. It could be worse. It's actually nice having a child who can run my errands, pick up a few groceries or return movies. She and her sister have even become friends! That's something I'm really liking.

I do enjoy watching my children grow up. Each new stage intrigues me. And this newest stage, the one where all of my children will be in school all day come fall, especially fascinates me. I think I'll get another book finished when they go back to school. Maybe two.

Corpus Christi, Texas

By Marcia Mickelson

Sorry for not posting last week. Last weekend we moved 2.5 hours away from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. One week later, we're almost all moved in and getting caught up.

Our boys were excited to ride in the big moving truck with Daddy all the way to the new house.

We spent the week cleaning, getting situated, and exploring our new town. Thank goodness for the GPS we bought Dad for Father's Day. Also, my 8 year old has been studying the Corpus Christi map for months now, so he already knows his way around and has been a great help for me.

Here is a picture of one of the beaches in Corpus Christi. One night we went downtown to a beach and walked around the sidewalk and down to the sand. Our kids loved it. We didn't get in the water, just walked around. We stayed out until past nine o'clock and it was so nice to see many families walking, pushing strollers, riding bikes, and roller skating along the beach's sidewalk. We're hoping to get to another beach this week to go swimming and build sand castles. We're excited about our new town and hope to be all settled soon.

A Welcome Break in My Busyness

by Marsha Ward

I thought I was busy before, but this week has been horrendous. Because of my trip to the WWA convention, I wasn't able to get together with my new visiting teaching companion earlier in the month. The Saturday we chose to go was the Relief Society's Super Saturday, so that bombed out. VT got left to this week.

Now, I don't have your typical neighborhood route for visiting teaching. A week into June, I received a new route and new companion. I get to travel 17 miles into a small nearby town and pick up my companion, then visit our ladies. My companion works out of town, so not every day is available. We squeezed it into this week, between my getting personal effects out of a mobile home I hope to sell this weekend, melodrama rehearsals, and four performances (thank goodness I'm only the piano player this year!), along with several other crucial tasks, including writing a magazine article on a deadline and mailing off a packet of labels for a newsletter.

One of the ladies we visit teach on this new route was planning to have a painting lesson tonight, so we asked her teacher if it was okay if we came over to give the VT lesson (she's in our branch, too). We got permission. I picked up my comp at a Circle K convenience store so I wouldn't get lost trying to find her remote home. She was just returning from her job in the Phoenix area and still had her name badge around her neck. She's busy, too.

We arrived at our destination to find that the painting teacher was missing and our lady was waiting in her car outside the home. We drove to a nearby playground and gave her the lesson while sitting at a small table in the shade. It was actually very nice. Then we visited with another lady who lives about eight miles from our first stop. That was good, too. She home-schools her five terrific children, but because she follows the public school calendar, they are having their summer break. We had a good visit, then I returned my companion to her car and drove the 17 miles home.

Even though the rest of my week is full of stress, taking the time to do my visiting teaching was a nice break, and helped me relax and think on eternal things. I needed that.

Powerlifting and a Wedding

By Tamra Norton

Last week was a busy one for our family (they always are, aren't they?). On Tuesday my husband and our 16-year-old son, Josh headed off to Aruba for our son's powerlifting competition. Josh was part of the 2008 US Men's Powerlifting Team. They had a blast hanging out on the white sandy beaches of Aruba! Oh, and Josh came home with the silver medal.



"Any why didn't you go to Aruba?" I hear you ask. Well, on the same day my guys headed off to the Caribbean, we had lots of family come in town from Oklahoma for our nephew's wedding. (How considerate of him to marry a Houston girl). :)

On Friday (the same day as Josh's competition) Douglas (our nephew) and Ary were married in the Houston Texas Temple. The wedding was so incredibly beautiful, as was the happy couple. Aren't they darling. My oldest son, Preston was a groomsman (he's the blond). Preston and Douglas have been pals since they were wee tykes.

So I'm sad I didn't make it to the beaches of Aruba this year. Maybe I'll make it to the beaches of Galveston sometime soon. But there's nothing quite like witnessing a beautiful young couple start their lives together, in the right place, to the right person, and at the right time!

I'm Not Stupid, It's My Thyroid!

by Elodia Strain

The following is a true story related to me by a friend.

“I knew something was wrong.

I couldn’t concentrate at work or when doing things like reading a book for fun. I was in a mental fog when I ran errands like going to the grocery store.

I’d just finished a round of a toxic drug that had put me into a medically-induced menopause, and I knew my hormones were completely out of whack as a result. My metabolism, which had always been fast, was suddenly sluggish, and I counted my calories, exercised like crazy, and drove myself nuts trying to get things back to normal—to no avail. What’s worse, I was hungry all the time, like my body wasn’t using the food it was getting properly and wanted more.

I was swollen and retaining water and “that time of the month” was miserably long and heavy. Then I, an active 20-something who eat no dairy or red meat, found out that my cholesterol was slightly high all of a sudden with no explanation.

And you know what, I knew what was wrong. Somehow, I just knew.

For a year and a half I told my doctor my symptoms and said I suspected a thyroid problem. He didn’t agree. I showed him a book I found at the library that listed my exact symptoms as those of hypothyroidism.

He treated me like I was a woman who didn’t like that I had gained weight and thought thyroid medication would make me skinny again.

I found another doctor and requested the tests. The results were exactly what I suspected: Hypothyroidism.

I’ve learned to listen to my body, and I believe any woman experiencing the symptoms associated with thyroid disease (or any disease for that matter) should be taken seriously. Especially after she’s been through a hormonally-taxing event in her life such as pregnancy, menopause, (or in my case medically-induced menopause.)

These days, now that I’m being treated, I’m starting to feel better. I can focus better, my appetite has decreased to a proper level, and my metabolism is back up. I’m not 100% yet, but I’m on my way."

I share this story, blog readers, because I love that the blog community is a place where we can learn from others' experiences. I learned from my friend’s experience, and I thought maybe someone else might too.

Additional Resources: The Thyroid Solution: A Revolutionary Mind-Body Program That Will Help You by Arem Ridha

Living Well with Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You... That You Need to Know (Revised Edition) by Mary J. Shomon

What I've Been Up To

by Marsha Ward

Last week I attended the annual get-together of Western Writers of America, whose member produce much of today's Western Literature, both fiction and nonfiction. WWA is made up of historians, novelists, writers of short fiction, juvenile authors, magazine writers, journalists, and everything in between. At our conventions, we take tours of sites of historical significance; listen to panelists expound on topics from researching and writing military history to how to write Western music; eat very well; and grant the Spur Awards in 17 or so categories of literature, film writing, poetry, and song lyrics.

It is great fun to reconnect with old friends and to make new ones. I lined up several outstanding writers for future Author Interviews on my blog. I spoke to a potential publisher for my WIP. I gleaned a lot of information, hugged a lot of people, and came home exhausted.

What did you do last week?

Homesick?

So my internet and I were having a difference of opinion yesterday, but here I am, a day late, but alive and kicking!

We got to greet a friend from Samoa last week on his first trip to the U.S. What a fabulous experience!! He flew in Tuesday, spent the night and we drove him to the MTC Wednesday, after a trip to town to outfit him for his mission.

To say he was overwhelmed could not even begin to describe his reaction to the U.S. He came from a country where they grow nearly everything they eat, working in the jungle and fishing for their daily food. To see everything laid out in the grocery store was quite a shock.

It was such a beautiful experience. He was filled with such a strong desire to serve the Lord, his spirit touched us all.

I can't even begin to describe the feelings and experiences in that short space of time. He is truly a member of our family now, someone we will never forget.

Now I'm homesick. Homesick for a beautiful island in the south Pacific that I've only visited once. I'm homesick for the happy people and their simple lifestyle. As I saw on a plaque the other day, "The beach is where my heart is."