Empty Desk

I found this note taped to the front door.

Gigs left it there before leaving for school early this morning.

The state of his room can only be described as chaotic.

There are 40 different projects taking place simultaneously, 

each occupying its own spot in the room.

But I don't think he thinks it's messy.

Its art.

It's creative.

To him, it's organized-ish.

I was reminded of photos of Einstein's desk in 1955, the day after he died.

It was a mess, too.

Papers, books, manuscripts, magazines, piles, 

journals, photos, and writings strewn all over his desk.

It reminds me of Gigs.

Einstein said:

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, 

then what are we to think of an empty desk?”

 

In The Front Seat

 Today, Christian and I had a VERY GOOD meeting about an upcoming

project that might be happening (fingers crossed).  

A dream of mine could be coming true.

After our meeting, we went to lunch together, giddy at our 

possible prospects.

I love being with Christian.

If he's driving to run errands, I join him, or if he's out in the

pastures with the ladies I want to be there watching him work

while talking his ear off.

All he has to say is,

"Do you want to go for in the car with me to...?"

and I'm in the front seat with a Dr. Pepper,

and good tunes playing before he can even finish that sentence.

I don't even care where we are going or what we are doing.

This evening, I made dinner, and we had the Elders over.

What sweeties!

Plus, they remind me of Ollie, and I love thinking

of Ollie in homes, sharing a meal and a message about Jesus.

He is the best missionary; I am certain of that.

(I hope he's putting his napkin on his lap and thanking his hosts!)

Elder Bludorn saw Kitty and was excited to pick her up and snuggle!

I swear I didn't make him hold her!

She's irresistible!  

List Makers

Jane makes lists.  She takes after me.  We are list makers.  

We make lists on paper with boxes to check off our progress.  

Well, Jane made a new epic list called HOT GIRL SUMMER 

with 15 things to do this summer before she heads to BYU

in August.

I'd share the list, but she's not home while I write this post,

and I want to make sure she's OK with me sharing her list.  

But I will tell you, it's a fabulous list.

And I will also share that today, Claire and Jane didn't have work, 

so they spontaneously took Lottie out of school

 with my permission, of course, at lunchtime. 

They drove to a nearby U-pick strawberry field and spent 

the afternoon picking luscious, plump, deep-red strawberries.

They were the only ones in the entire field armed with buckets

filling them to the brim with these gorgeous edible jewels.

I was a little jelly that I didn't get invited, but was completely content

at home snuggling Sunday on the porch.

I just love this cat, dangit!

Bring Your Cat To Work Day

 Today, I worked on catching up on my blog/journal.
But how does anyone get anything done 

with the cutest cat in the world
who purrs and meows and wants to be picked up all the time?

Today, we are anticipating our 22 incubated eggs to hatch.  

Last night, Gigs came into my room and told me he

 saw three eggs moving around in the incubator

with cracks in their shells.  
Here we go again!

Sticky

Saturday night, around 7:00, after spending the entire day working in the yard, 

we decided to clean up and quickly drive to Apex, 

for dinner at Culver's, a family favorite.

(Harvest burger, yum yum yum).

On Sundays, I usually bring flowers to church for the pulpit.

I saw some Queen Anne's Lace on the side of the road near our pastures 

and asked Christian to pull over on the way home from dinner 

so I could pick some for my church arrangement. 

He did, I got out, walked toward the flowers, and then, 

in the dark near-midnight hour,

I didn't see the big ditch right in front of the flowers, and I fell into it.

I laughed it off and waved to everyone in the car, like,

"I'm an idiot!  I'm totally fine!"

I could hear laughing from the car; I was laughing, too!

Then I realized something was super sticky in my sandals.

I didn't have my phone or any light, so I just kept picking flowers

until I noticed my foot was sticky and sore.

I sat down, and Christian came up to me with his phone flashlight.

"Are you OK?" he asked me.

"Yeah, my foot is wet, I must have fallen into some water in

the ditch there."

Christian shone the light on my foot and it turned out it wasn't water; 

it was blood. Sticky blood.

And a lot of it.

I had a huge cut on the side of my right foot.

Good thing we had a stack of Chipotle napkins in the car!

Anyway, so everyone fussed over me,

and Claire, my wound care nurse, told me I needed stitches,

but I disagreed and asked her to just bandage me up.

But it really hurt to walk on it.

Like, I didn't go to church the next day pain.

You better believe my flower arrangement 

at the pulpit was amazing, though.

 Happy Memorial Day!

Thinking about my AMAZING heritage

like Harold Jones (my Papa's brother)

who at age 23 died in Italy, flying airplanes in WW2

He looks like my brothers.

Oliver in Brazil: May 2024

 Elder Nielson is thriving!  

This was a busy month for my boy!!!!

Enjoy Ollie in May in Brazil:

His Area:

Food:

Baptisms:

Families/friends he's teaching:

Temple (with his favorite family. 

Her name is Stephanie, too!):

Companion/Missionaries:

P-Day:

Street Contacting (Ollie's brilliant idea!)

Random: