post mortem

 

 

post mortem = after death

After we die where will we go?
After we die what becomes of our essence
and our remains?
I have always had answers that have relieved
some of the worries but not all.
It is always a worry that I am not
adequately prepared for death
because I know it could come at any time.

 

I never feel as though I can live my life
to the fullest because I am not really prepared to die.
What will my children do if I am gone?
Who will love them?

 

I have come close to dying several times.
I am not afraid of death as much as

I am worried about leaving a mess behind me

for someone else to clean up.

I would like to leave behind a few burdens as possible

for others.

I know that some of my goals and desires
will never be reached, but I believe God
will support me in reaching the goals that are right.

I want to leave the world a better place when I die.
I want to be someone's blessing, not their burden.
I want my children to be respectful, respectable and responsible.
I want to be good and spread goodness in the world.
I want to be someone who will not destroy others, or destroy myself,
or let others destroy me.

I think one of the worst things is living as someone's disappointment,
but  know that people who are disappointed in me want me to live up to
expectations and goals that may or may not be realistic or within my ability
to achieve.

I know there will always be someone somewhere who will be
disappointed in me.  People can't always be pleased.
I hope I can be someone who does not behave in a disappointed way
toward others.  I have before, and it was greatly detrimental to them.

When I die, I hope I have filled the purpose for which God created me.
If I can have that as my meaning in life, then the rest won't matter.
I can say that it was all worth having and doing.
May God fill me with His mercy, His light and His love.
May God help my children to be good people who will build up His
kingdom on earth and never tear it down.

Leadership

 

E pluribus unum = Many as one

 

One of my favorite scriptures is the 23rd Psalm by King David.

I memorized it when I was 12 and I play it back in my mind often

because it exemplifies the state of mind I wish I could always hold
in my head.  I think gratitude to God is extremely important, especially
in times when the world is bogged down in practices that demean

and strip the human soul of its dignity.

 

  1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
  2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
     he leadeth me beside the still waters.
  3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of
     righteousness for his name’s sake.
  4 Yea, though I walk through the valley   
     of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
     for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
  5 Thou preparest a table before me

     in the presence of mine enemies:
     thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
  6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
     all the days of my life: and I will dwell
     in the house of the Lord for ever.

I love many of David's Psalms.  It is easy to see why King Saul

called David to sing to him and ease his troubled mind and why the

people loved David so much.

David's spiritual side was very strong.

 

I think becoming king ruined him.
He was a poet and musician, not really a politician to begin with.

Being a leader brings experiences that bring out

the cynical side of a person.
Leadership means people will turn and point fingers
and cast blame on whoever holds the
position of leadership.

This is because leaders make decisions

the rest of the people can't resolve among themselves.

Leaders are in positions of high responsibility
and are given a lot of community resources
to make decisions with.
They are given the deciding vote,
which amounts to automatic victory over
any who may oppose them.
Leadership means power, but
it also means powerlessness.
If you are a leader of people who believe
they are your equals and you make a

decision they don't like they may rise up

and murder you and do cruel and obscene

things to you.

The level of pride of the people under a leader

makes all the difference in that leader's effectiveness.

We will run our elections and cast our votes, but if

the people of a country cannot agree our leaders

are rendered ineffective.

I think so many civil wars are going on in the world  today

that the people cannot agree on anything.

Without support from a unified body of people

how can our leaders lead?

 

We can prepare people to lead and raise them to positions

of dignity and pride, but unless we are prepared to be

as strong and moral and responsible as we expect them

to be, we cannot expect them to save us from our sins.

They are not gods, they are people doing a difficult job

that most of us are not qualified for.

May God have mercy on those whom we vote into

leadership positions.
They are facing unbearably evil opposition.

Cara Proximus

Dear Neighbor,

We are so sad to see you feeling ill.  You have been a
good neighbor to us and many other people.
My father reminded me how you helped him on the cement
when he was first building his house and I remember
you helped us when our heat was cut off in the winter.
My mother has told me she always knows you are
someone she can go to for help if she needs it.
She probably won't, but she knows she can.

Your wife has always been kind and helpful to
me and to my children.

We have often seen you helping others around
the neighborhood and throughout the community.
We are grateful to have had such good and merciful neighbors.

We are very sorry you are not feeling well.
No one wants to see you sick and run down
and I can see by the way your family flocks around you
that they love you and you are so very precious to them.

I think the Lord must have especially great blessings reserved
for people who have done as much good in the world
as you and your wife have achieved both separately and together.

I don't really have anything to fix things for you and your family.
Feelings are about all I have to offer,
but I don't really want to leave the neighborhood
this time around without letting you know
that I think you are very good people and how grateful
we are to have had you as our neighbors.

No, we're not leaving the neighborhood yet, but we will sometime.

I think one of the greatest gifts Heavenly Father gives to people,
other than family are good neighbors.
Our world is scary with the way people move back and forth
and leave us with strangers all around us who may or may not
care about us.  We take our neighbors for granted sometimes,
but we really shouldn't because in the end
the kindness and mercy we show to and receive from
those around us is really what counts most when we reach the other side.

So, your frailty really bothers me and I wish
you can be healed and feel better soon.
You have been part of my life since I was young.
I wish you all of the vigor you once had.

Suae quisque fortunae faber est = Every man is the artisan of his own fortune - from Appius Claudius

What will you leave behind you?

Media publishing has become a relatively quick and easy
but not necessarily effortless activity.
It is easy to shoot off some little negative sarcastic quip
but the extraordinary stuff, the inspirational and precious and beautiful
must still be sought for and created with great effort.

We are overdosing on information; the contents of thousands of minds
equal or superior to our own minds.
We are searching for those things that would make us more complete
and yet finding increasing emptiness and lack of individual worth.

Social boundaries still exist, and criminal activities are unbounded
and sin is easier and less recognizable than before.

Where do we want our minds to be really?
Do our minds belong in other peoples' bedrooms,
or in their wallets, or in their weaknesses?
Should we be looking for their faults when
we ourselves are not perfect?

If we cause others to exist in cages
we must accept the possibility
that someday we or our descendants
will also be caged.

What is freedom?
Is it money or lack of it?
Is it worry or lack of worry?
Is it experience or lack of experience?
Is it knowledge or ignorance?

We play out our roles in life, and struggle to
survive with the tools we have been given.
We are limited by our abilities, our skills,
our experience, our attitudes.

Making our way in this world can be so difficult.
We are subject to the whims and comments
and attitudes of others around us.
They can hurt us or they can help us.

Sometimes the greatest gift one person can give
to another person is a smile and a kind word.

Sometimes the human soul is dragged down and worn out.
Some souls thrive under adverse conditions.
They become the raging unstoppable fires that
force cannot subdue.
Others wear down and quickly pass out of existence
like candle flames.

In the end, the one thing that matters most
is the kind and honorable actions of
one human being to another
regardless of the roles they fill in life.

We will all be judged.
We will be judged by our correctness
and propriety or lack of these traits.
Our mediator in this judgment
will be our response or lack of response to
our most honorable feelings.
Integrity, commitment, faith, kindness,
and the willingness to stand for righteousness
even though we know we will lose everything
will be what matters most.
No matter what other voices are
speaking for other causes out there,
virtues and good behavior are never out of style.

In the end what will you be remembered for?
How would you like to be remembered?
What are you most likely to leave behind you when you die?

Try for good memories of you and for you.

Ecclesia Church

Today's experience was tinted by pervasive sadness.
It is one of those days when I have accepted my failure
and can't progress beyond it.

Two of my children chose not to come with me to church.
They were not feeling well.
One went home with Grandpa during Sacrament Meeting
after partaking of the sacrament.

He was not feeling well either.

The theme today was missionary work.

One point mentioned in the course of the speaking
is the necessity for stating our beliefs and our position
in whatever form of communication we choose
and especially in our blogs.

Our publications can be seen worldwide.
We may not be official representatives of our church and our faith,
but we can at least share what we believe in by
announcing those beliefs in our writings.

We may not be able to save the world by ourselves,
or change other people, and what they do.
We can make the world better by offering our beliefs,
our stories, and our reasons for believing as we do.
In this way, we can help others improve their lives
even if we can't currently improve our own.

My daughter is reading my blog and has asked me
to write a little bit about horses.
This is off topic, and off topic things are generally
considered rude, but oh well,
my blog is not going to be perfect anyhow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Horses have two ends just as people do.
Generally, the end people and horses do their thinking with
determines their eventual destination.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think I will end with that.
I will have to make my blog into
one that my children
might like to read sometimes.

Snow

veni, vidi, vici = I came, I saw, I conquered

Snow is here, a shocking sight considering everything yesterday was green. 
Yesterday was chilly.  Just a precursor to colder things to come.

I came from a warm place, and the first time I saw snow
I ran out into it with bare feet, not knowing how cold it would be.
I was only in it for a few minutes.
It was long enough to make my feet turn a bluish red color.
When I went indoors my parents put my feet and hands in warm water
to get rid of the bluish red color.
The warm water caused my cold hands and feet to hurt intolerably
as the circulation returned to them.

I wonder if this will be one of those winters with six foot snowdrifts
here in the valley?

I wonder how the pioneers who settled this place tolerated the winters
what they thought about, what they did, and how they prepared?

I used to like making snow angels.
I thought the big snowflakes looked like feathers dropped from
white wings drifting down.
I like the way light filtered through deep snowdrifts or ice
shimmers light blue, crystal blue.

One of my children has crystal blue eyes.

I think snow is beautiful, but I don't like it very much.

On the surface it is a joy to behold, but its substance is
so uncomfortable and unsafe. It can't be trusted.
It is inconsistent and unpredictable.  It comes and goes as it pleases.
It is cold and slippery.  It offers no refuge or comfort, but
offers instead, danger and death to those who are left to its mercy.
Its properties embody many of the qualities I wish never to find in
another person, least of all myself.

Some people have learned to be friends with the snow
I haven't yet. I accept it though.
I know the snow is necessary for certain things I love very much.
Snow is a blanket for the landscape,
and water storage for the plants that burst forth in the spring.
Snow is caused by coldness, and the cold makes apples sweeter.
I appreciate warmth and shelter more and
the people I love.
I like having less flies and mosquitoes around to torment me.
I love and need God more during the snowy season.
Sad but true.  Snow reminds me to pray.

I should only accept its blessings, thank the Lord for it and forget the other part.

Winter is begun and I am lonely for the spring.

Criticism

 

De gustibus non est disputandum
                   =

One ought not argue about tastes

 

Looking at the world through critical eyes is like looking at
the sky through dirty windows. 
Part of your vision is obscured.  Part of the light is blocked
and the dirty spots are difficult to ignore.
If you do ignore the dirty spots though,
you might see something beautiful.  You might see the
answers to your prayers or your sweetest dream
come true.  Dirt is an inevitable fact of life.
Dirt washes off. 

Critical eyes and critical minds
remember the dirt though.
Critical eyes are good for guiding our hands
to make life better. 
Critical minds are good if they use information they gather
to make the world a better place.
When criticism is turned toward human beings it becomes
a terrible unforgiving merciless weapon of destruction.

The somebody I wish I could be is someone who can see past
all the dirt that might obscure my vision and see only the good
in this world.  Critical people are the dirtiest ones of all.  If I could ask
God for any ability, it would be the ability to be truly clean and free
of all critical and inconsiderate thoughts toward others.

Somewhere

rara avis = a rare bird, i.e., an extraordinary person or thing

Somewhere in some other place

behind another someone's face
dwells another human mind
thinking thoughts a lot like mine

Somewhere in somebody's dreams
Someone knows the silent strings
that pull and guide my life and acts
that engineer my truths and facts

It seems the search is never done
to find this other matching one
Who understands before I speak
the words I say and thoughts I think.

I wonder if I'll ever see
the somebody who matches me?

Only God knows.

Excel 2007 learning links

 

Pro forma = for form's sake, or as a matter of form

 

I'm taking a class to learn to operate Office 2007. 

The class consists of a textbook, Internet tutorials and projects,
and occasional labs and lectures.
I take evening classes.  Monday is my exam in Excel 2007. 
I have been working on the tutorials and the
ribbon at the top of the documents takes some getting used to
because I have the old software habit.
I'm not getting any younger, and old habits die hard.

The exam is open book and open notes because a person either
knows how to use software, or they don't.

Software has everything to do with habits.  Excel has some bugs in it. 
People complain about it.

I think though, that it would be so difficult to go back to tracking everything the old way,
with thousands and thousands of receipts and papers and checks and bills.

I'm not the greatest mathematician in the world, but I want a degree in accounting. 
Even if I am never part of a payroll department, or human resources etc. I will use
the skills I learn while acquiring this degree.  Because our system is based on the
exchange of goods and services, and money is the medium of exchange used for those

goods and services, knowing how to manage it is an essential skill that everyone needs to know.

 

Here are the learning links I am using.

Windows XP Keyboard shortcuts

Myitlab

 

Student Data Files

 

Excel 2007 keyboard shortcuts

 

Microsoft Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts

I suppose though, if we went back to tracking things the old way, everyone would be too
busy to complain anymore.

I am gathering links to help me learn it better. 
This weekend will be big for study and worship for me.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Oct 2008

 

We took our Excel exams from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. 
At 8:15 I was still on the third part having given up
in frustration on the second exam.
The exam is a software mockup of Micorosoft's Excel software,
meaning that, if you push a button that would normally
work for you in Excel, you may get an error message instead
in the training program and possibly fail your test.
This is exactly what happened to me and many others in the class.
You have to guess which button the computer wants you to push.
If you don't get it right, or inadvertently push a wrong button
somewhere, you are in a real mess right?

I sure am.

I did get 100% on the first part of the exam. 
Things went downhill from there.
Technology has its good points, but maybe the reason
our fine country is in such a mess
is because someone somewhere inadvertently
pushed a button on some merciless computer
that would not give them another chance.

Listening and reading material

Sounds of Sunday, KSFI

I loved listening to this station on AM 820, but it was taken off 
the radio and is now an Internet radio station. 
There aren't really any other radio stations here now
that play many songs about God, so I don't use the radio much anymore.

Church related links

LDS.org mp3 scripture downloads-These are scripture recordings to download and listen to on mp3 players.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints-The official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Visiting Teaching Message-The Visiting Teaching message from August, 2008
Teachings of Joseph Smith-The teachings of Joseph Smith
Bible/ Old Testament-The Old Testament, online version
Bible/New Testament-The New Testament, online version
Book of Mormon-The Book of Mormon, online version
D&C-The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, online version
Pearl of Great Price-The Pearl of Great Price, online version

Moralia Human decency-plasticized humans

Mea Culpa = My fault, my blame, or my responsibility

If I do not speak out about this,
I am responsible for it to some extent even though
I would not do this to anyone.
I do not regard myself as being without vice
or above those who commit disrespectful acts.
I am saying that I don't condone those acts
whether committed by myself or others.
I am saying I will not support them.

Plasticizing human beings and
displaying them publicly is educational.
There is no denying that point.
The value of that education is
a point to be debated however.
Is the value of the information obtained
worth the price we must pay
for degrading human social structure and values?

Which humans today
want to be plasticized
and placed on display
their hidden insides,
their skin cut away
for curious eyes
incompassionate gaze
whose income supplies
the need for displays
presented for eyes
of those who will pay
to view the insides
the skin cut away
of others who died
the victims, the prey
of those who will sell
your soul away?

Where's our sense of decency?
Where the human soul
that fought for right to privacy
not too long ago?
Where the rights of people?
Does anyone know?
Where did our freedom
and morality go?

Each day new atrocities are publicly made known.
Each day we find someone making their living
at someone else's expense.
What happened to respecting dead people
and giving them a decent burial?
Who are the plasticized humans presented for display
at these abominable exhibits now touring the world?
Who is safe from being plasticized and publicly displayed
if we allow this despicable practice to exist among us?
These people were once someone's sons, daughters,
brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers.
Where are their families?
Who are the people making money from
displaying these dead people?
When is the price of an education too high to pay?
Even with prior consent, would the owners of these
bodies have wanted this treatment?
Would they have treated others this way?

Maybe these people were homeless while living.
Maybe this was the only way for them
to be allowed the right to occupy space in our world.

Even though those who patronize these exhibits
aren't eating these bodies, they are
consuming them in another way.
They are using them to feed their greed
for information, their boundless ambition
to view the unseen.
Is there no end to cannibalism in this world?

Is this responsible use by those who have
legal power over these deceased people?
WHO OWNS OUR DEAD?

How many of you who patronize the exhibits
of plasticized humans would want your
parents or grandparents or children or
grandchildren or brothers or sisters
or cousins treated this way?
Or your neighbors?

You are making millionaires of people
who will treat you no better.

I will not come to see you if you suffer a similar fate
to those whose bodies are now displayed.
I will respect your right to privacy.

If I do not speak out against this utterly foul practice,
protest in some way, I am allowing it to exist among us.

Where are the thoughts and feelings of our leaders?
Have they become so immune to the needs of people
that they will ignore the inevitable results of treating
human bodies in this manner?
Should any human being ever be displayed this way?

People of the world, of the nations, of my community
and of my church I address and beseech you to stand
against this accursed practice.
Nothing good can come from it.

If God were to be present among us,
would we treat Him that way?

Leges sine moribus vanae = Laws without morals are useless.

Mores sine legibus vagi, = Morals without laws are unstable.

http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v50/n34/bacc_jp.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4291334&page=1

Alicubi

Somewhere in a dream
exists the me I might have been
Someone good and kind
great of heart, and bright of mind

Somebody I hoped I'd be
but when I look back all I see
are things not right
endless sins as black as night

Living with regrets.
Living in despair.
Not trying to forget,
just longing to repair

Damage I've caused in this world
wanting to save my boys and girls
from mistakes they'll make later on...
inevitably as life goes on...

Colloquium

Yesterday and Saturday was Stake Conference.

Saturday, we discovered which church our ward will be meeting in after the remodeling of one church is completed and the building of the new one.

I took notes at the Sunday Sessions.  These are the main highlights I heard as I listened to the sessions.

Stake Conference:

Prayer

President Wolfert took care of business.  Presented Burton, Clegg, Warnock, Johnson, Oldham, Collard and others for callings.

Hymn:  High on the Mountain Top

Prayer

Choir:  Come Follow Me

Marlin K. Jensen

Be kind to those who are different
All things will be restored to their proper oreder and perfect frame.
morays:  morally binding rules and customs
ideals and expectations can be cruel and tear people down
Jesus seeks to gather all of us.  In some way or another we are all lost sheep.
We must seek to obey all commandments in order to receive spiritual gifts.
Jesus does not do anything except that which benefits the world and His people.
Empathy: "feeling your pain in my heart"
Song quote:  I will walk with you, Hugh Nibley & etc.

Ann Dibb:  Day of counterfeits, we are living in the day of counterfeits

We must be obedient to the teachings of those we sustain
must read scriptures,
pray daily
live by the articles of faith.

In doing good to all men we develop good relationships.

Do not build relationships on lies.

Used her parents to exemplify the building of good relationships through the

daily expression of love, acceptance and admiration without seeking personal gain.

Do not be satisfied with that which is counterfeit.  Choose to live a real life.

Testimony

Boyd K. Packer

Greeting

In 1954 appointed seminary teacher, had six children, lived in Utah Valley.Three married children and 8 grandchildren live in this area.

Yesterday dedicated monument with name and information of every fallen officer since
the turn of the century. One for Charles Badger. Charles Badger rescued mother and four
children at the cost of his own life when a wagon overturned.
Boyd K. Packer’s Grandmother Christina Olssen left Denmark.  Left everything and used a handcart.
One daughter was determined not to walk into the Salt Lake Valley barefoot, carried shoes around
her neck.  Handcart nearly floated away in the river, eighteen year old boy saved it.

Packers settled on the Provo river. Indian trail where horses can still be ridden in Provo Canyon to Midway.
Provost trapper trader set up trading post in this area and this is why we are Provo, because of this mountain man.
Provost survived  a Shoshone Indian peace pipe ambush.

Jim Bridger: chin music, telling tall tales, Provost more accurate than Jim Bridger

Ten years after they established the trading post, Boyd K. Packer’s grandmother came to Utah, about the same time as Johnstons army came to bother the Saints.  Some had lost as many as five homes even though they had broken no laws and caused no ill to anyone.

He wondered how the Spirit could exist in meetings conducted by broadcast.  But he thought it was better
having people near their homes, and taking care of their children.

Talks about his travels and how Conference broadcasts work.  Some broadcasts are sent through and from
different places all over the world.  Personal interviews are almost impossible to keep now except through
video interviews for the general authorities for the purpose of missions.

Revelations came and some of them were not understood.

Joseph knew the Lord was saying stuff to him, but could not always understand
why He was saying it.

The weak things of the world would come forward and overcome the strong.

Each Wednesday, General Authorities meet on the fifth floor to discuss different options and region, but authority must be conveyed in person.

Speaks of callings, and how informal they can be.  Speaks of the evil one being more successful at deceiving than ever before.

Joseph Smith says any body who has a body has power over those who don’t have bodies.  We will always be warned when we are doing something wrong by our feelings.  The day will come when we will be everywhere on the earth.  He invokes the power upon us and says that fear is the opposite of faith.  He invokes that blessing, bears that witness in the name of Jesus Christ.

Hymn: Redeemer of Israel

Dieter Uchdorf

Thank you for beautiful morning hymn, Spirit, love and kindness.  Feels impressed to bear testimony that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God.

You who are assembled today are truly the United Nations of the Church.  We are joined together by technology, but especially by faith in Jesus Christ.

Jokes about being in charge.

gratitude to missionaries and their way of blessing lives.

4,400 missionaries serving but many who have not decided to do so.

Stay worthy and be ready and don’t underestimate your influence and your ability.
Don’t judge if peoples lives differ from yours, invite them and make them part of the kingdom of God.

What are you personally doing to increase your faith in our Heavenly Father and in His Son Jesus Christ?The Spirit of the Lord will send you the inspiration and teach you everything you need to take care of and teach your family.The Lord promised that everything you need will come to you from on high. You have to follow the promptings befor e God will increase your faith.  Usually answers will come through the Scriptures.

When you are assembled together you shall instruct and edify one another.

Hard to focus on the most essential matters of life and have the right goals.

Use time wisely.
Set goals that will increase faith in the Savior and achieve.
Calm periodic reasonable assessment of what we choose to do with our time.
We must set our spiritual goals to ensure we reach our destination safely and on time.

Increasing faith in God and strengthening marriages and families.

The Lord will bless you.

Evaluate where you are, calmly periodically and reasonably focus your evaluation and efforts to change.

Commandments of God are not restrictions.
They are a plan for a safe and direct path to the destination you seek.
He wants to help us to succeed in this life and throughout Eternity.

Use the Church websites.  Be careful.
New technologies can bring dangerous things into our homes.

Use the help and the systems and the counsel available.
Let virtue garnish thy thoughts.
All of these are available at lds.org.

Don’t be ashamed of being a church member.
Accept and live the commandments of God.
Share testimony and enthusiasm with children, grandchildren and spouse.
Complete conversion comes after many trials and much testing.

Become personally converted unashamed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

·         Have a current temple recommend
·         Live worthy to hold a temple recommend
·         Trust the Lord

Choose the right/Current temple recommend

Study the word of God daily.  Teach by example.
Nothing can divide a family who is willing to serve the Lord and keep His commandments.
While reading ponder the things that need resolving in your lives and the Lord will send you answers.

Speak with your Father in Heaven daily.  Nothing can take the place of prayer.
You must set your own house in order through regular scripture study and prayer.
The whole world urgently needs the message of Jesus Christ, the moral values and the strength of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Strengthen marriages and families.

Choir: I Stand All Amazed
Prayer
@6:00p.m. There will be a fireside broadcast by Jeffrey R. Holland.


Tenax propositi = tenacious of purpose

Lavandula angustifolia

"Lavandula" derivative of "lavare"= to wash
"Angustifolia"= spiky leaves

I love the smell of lavendar, it has something soothing in it that makes me believe in the healing properties spoken of by those involved in herbal lore.
I have a pot garden with one lavendar plant growing in it.  Some of my neighbors have lavendar growing in their flowerbeds near the sidewalk and I love to go past when I am out walking and breathe in that scent.  I think I would like to live in a field of lavendar, or at least have it growing by every window of my house so I could smell it all the time.  For me, it beats out any perfume on the market.

Mi Cara Infantum...

Little gums too soon are gone
best not mourned or dwelt upon
Time changes all and life goes on...

Quote

Baby mine

Ludus

I am in school up to my ears and over.  I am enrolled in one class, plus an online course I have been trying forever to finish.  Five of my children are also in school, and my baby is always chasing me with books.  She says she isn't a baby anymore.  She is probably right, but she is my last and I tend to want to hold on to those baby years.

I have been trying online school for my children also.  My oldest is a good girl who likes to manage her own life; schoolwork, laundry, you name it.  Piles and piles of chores stack up around me, and I can never get anything completed it seems, but I hear from other people sometimes that life does slow down after a while.

Every time some progress is made, I am truly grateful.  Every time I clean even one thing at home, or get a lesson done, or mend something, or make something useful, no matter how small, it seems like a major accomplishment.

There are many things I am grateful for in my efforts.  I am always grateful for my family.  I am grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I am grateful for my neighbors, and for the wonderful teachers, principals, and other people of the system who have done many things to help me and my family.I am grateful for anything that makes my life less complicated.  I am grateful for every moment of peace and quiet I can get.  I am grateful that I am not young anymore, and that I am closer to the end of my life than to the beginning of it.  Life has a way of wearing a person down and making one feel like a wadded up tissue in a trash bin somewhere.

I take my classes slow.  I have learned that I can't go any faster without causing my own failure.  Eventually the schools will end.  What then?

Tempora mutantur, nos et mutantur in illis
=
Times change and we change with them

Separatio a vinculo matrimonii

Separatio a vinculo matrimonii
=
Divorce

In my case, a very great blessing having resulted in the freedom to pursue a more stable and
literate existence.

A true marriage between two individuals is a hand-in-hand experience, not a hands at each others'
throats existence.

If  a relationship does not include cooperation and respect on the parts of both individuals involved,
no substandard replacement is acceptable or worth pursuing.

Iudicium

It is human nature to be critical and picky.
I am a human being. I am critical and picky.
I think the critical side of human nature is meant
to be used for preventing possible errors
or accidents.
I don't think it is meant to be used to
destroy other people.
Isn't that usually what it does get used for though?

I am human. I hate to be judged, tested,
evaluated, criticized.
But since I automatically notice various details
in others, I can expect them to notice details about me.

I can't please everyone.
Some days it seems like
I can't please anyone.

I am glad my occupation in life is not that
of judge and ruler over
the general population of the world,
my nation, state, city, and especially
not of my community.
Since I am not likely to get paid
for judging and it has negative impacts
on others around me, why should I do it?

Soli Deo gloria et judicium Dei
=
"To God alone be glory and the judgment of God"

Studium

I am studying lots of things.  I like to learn, but not necessarily institution-style learning.
One interest is words and language.  There are many people who make a living by
using words to confuse others.  Sometimes knowing the right words can mean the
difference between living and dying.

In this world of information overload, a person needs to know more than the basic vulgar
street terms to find any kind of light or mercy.

People will send messages intended to tempt or persuade but with essentially no real
value.  They will offer pretty pictures, but will not back up those pictures with solid products.

Someone sent me a message with a pretty picture of herself meant to tempt.  I would advise
the young lady to send me no more pictures.  I am not interested in women as temptresses but
as friends to talk to once in a while about family, values, memories, and hobbies.
I am interested in men as friends to talk to about family, values, memories and hobbies.  I am
not interested in any other relationship.

If you want someone to talk dirty with, you are approaching the wrong person.  It is a waste of
time and energy to engage in that activity.

If I could choose someone to speak for me, I would not
choose the one with the most obscene words to say, nor the one who knows the most jargon.
I would instead choose someone who says wise things that are good for people and easy to understand.

But I do like to collect words and expressions and think about their meanings.

Dominus vobiscum = The Lord be with you

Comments

Once in a while people visit my internet writings for some reason or another. 
I write stuff, but I don't really expect action or replies.
Lots of people write or post pictures or opinions intended to elicit some kind of response.
That isn't really my aim here.
The purpose of my blog is simply to list information that may be interesting or useful
to me or someone else with interests similar to mine.
I tend to be a boring person who prefers a quiet, introspective life.
As such, the posts here aren't likely to be outstandingly profound, but
everyone has something useful to say at one time or another.

Notatu dignum = Worthy of note