Things I am Thankful For

It is about time I write on my blog. I am thankful for: my husband, each of my children, friends, my cat, God, the gospel, a living prophet, the temple, the Book of Mormon, the Bible, missionaries, my mom, my dad, the sacrifice they made for us, the lessons they taught us, the example they were to us, each of my siblings, my siblings' spouses and their children. My husbands family members, the fact that my husband is from the Philippines, the food and wonderful traditions of his family. Living in the desert, that my children go to a good school, good friends, that my husband has a good job, that I can stay at home with my kids, that we are all now healthy. I am thankful that my kids love books and reading - really thankful, and that they are well behaved at school. I am thankful that my kids are taking piano lessons at a reasonable price, by a fantastic teacher, that we also get to take taekwondo by a wonderful teacher close to home for a great price. I am thankful that I get to work with the kids in church, they are great, and so much fun. I am thankful for clothes and a safe place to live. I am thankful for finally after 38 years of life discovering a hair cut I like. The opportunity I had to go on a mission to Japan, the Japanese people and the Japanese Language, the wonderful food and culture of Japan. I am thankful for the seasons, the hot and the cold. Food!! Exercise!! The exercise keeps me from getting too fat, and the food keeps me from losing the 10-15 pounds I want to loose. The chance I got to swim in HS. All my past good teachers who taught me a lot, and the bad ones I also learned from. I am thankful for colors, and the sense of sight, touch, hearing, tasting, and being able to smell. I am thankful for sleep, and when my children sleep. Gardens and fruit trees, farmers who work magic in producing so much food. That my kids like to draw and color. Education. The chance to learn. Being able to go to COD and UCSD. The jobs I have had in my life. Learning even with out school. Math, and science. Learning to do things on my own. Beading, cooking, soapmaking, sewing, crocheting, home improvement, etc. My computer! Electricity, running water, showers, baths, toilets, air conditioning, heating, clean water, irrigation. Mountains, the ocean, the beach, snow on distant peaks visible from my home for several months each year (but not on my home). Good people who I know well, and those who don't know me who are great examples to me. Past trials that at the time were really difficult, but looking back were wonderful chances to grow and learn. Cars and bikes, running shoes. Hiking, swimming, surfing (eventhough I am still learning). The many many people who have selflessly helped me in various times in my life. Food. Desks, chairs, tables, couches, dressers, swingsets. Humor, laughing, good clean jokes. Sci Fi, star trek, star wars, SG, etc. Nice weather. Being outside. Really well written well made clean movies and tv shows. Preying mantis's, Lady bugs, all the amazing life around us that is so common place and that we are used to, that we might not even think twice about. Good deals and sales, being frugal, getting prepared. Card and board games to play with my family. History! The sacrifice of all the men and women of the military who have fought and died for our country since the revolutionary war. Also their families and others who have sacrificed for freedom and for the future posterity of this and other nations. The chances I have to serve others. My ancestors.

These and countless other things I am truly thankful!!! (I will think of many many more after i finish I am sure!)

That Evil Walmart

Yesterday, one of my facebook friends put up this article about Walmart. The title,"Project Impact: A Move to Crush Competition." (Link is below.) So before I read this article, I thought, oh, maybe they are forcing suppliers to charge less, or they are cutting prices below wholesale temporarily so they can put other companies out of business, and then when those other companies are out of business, they can jack up their prices. I thought the article would be about that, or some other nefarious business practice that was unfair, but legal. That is also how my friend made it out to be. (She wrote, "Watch out all you small businesses, they are coming after you!!")

But, you read the article, and you find that the evil empire of Walmart is going to crush its competition by ...(ready for it)...making the stores cleaner, more logical in their organization (store layout), better clothes, a better pharmacy, more crafts, and friendlier staff. Wow, that is so evil. They should advertise such horrible plans. They may get more shoppers. The spokesperson for Walmart said that they were just listening to customers.

When did improving yourself as a company become evil. When did listening to customers become so bad. I just don't get it. Don't misunderstand me, I don't worship Walmart or anything, and I think they have a lot of faults, but where are the horrible acts in this article. When has it been evil to give the customers what they want, and have a cleaner, more organized store with nice clothes in it? How dare they!! They have a lot a 'splaining to do!!!

Go for it Walmart!!! The more you improve, no matter what the media says, the more shoppers will go there. You really can't listen to the media, you just listen with people's wallets. If it was so horrible, people would not be there. That is capitalism for you. I am a big fan of that!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090909/us_time/08599192069800

Great Day at Church

Today was a great day at church. I got a call an hour before church that one of my teachers would not be there (she got sick), and it didn't bother me. (I am the Primary President.) I didn't have enough time to prepare a lesson, but I knew her class was small and they could just go in another class. Then at church, 2 more teachers didn't show up. Usually I get frustrated when that happens, but today it didn't bother me. I just took all three classes into a classroom (10 kids, about half our primary), grabbed last years lesson book (all the ones for this year are being used), happened to open the book to the lesson on choosing the right. It was the perfect lesson for the day before the first day of school. I think it was the lesson Heavenly Father wanted these children to have. We talked about a story by one of the 70 who was dared when he was 7 by a friend to run in front of an oncoming car. He did it, was it, hurt, and learned how bad it is to give in to a dare. The only dares we should give in to are "Dare to do good, dare to do right". I think we can do some harmless fun ones as well, but that is just me. Anyway, I recently saw the movie Valkarie, and it reminded me of a quote I had heard by a Nazi soldier who was in on the attempt to assassinate Hitler and start a new government that would stop the killing of the Jews and the innocent Russians and immediately give up to the Allies. (Kill Hitler to stop the killing of the innocent). The attempt failed, and most of these men (many of whom were active, devoted God fearing Catholics) were killed for treason. A few of them were not found out. One of them was commanding troops somewhere far from Berlin. His job was to take his troops to Berlin, and help keep the new government in control from Nazis. When he heard the attempt failed, he was on his way over, but stopped his troops and got them back into place before he was found out by Hitler. His family had a motto engraved over the entrance of his home, it said, "Even if all, not I." I told my class this story, and we discussed the meaning of this quote. Even if all (my friends are cheating, etc, ) not I. Even if all (the kids at primary are being irreverent), not I. Fill in the blanks. We talked about many other things. The kids who sometimes have a hard time focusing really liked it, and were active participaters. We talked about peer pressure, and how doing the right thing all the time takes more strength and courage than giving into a dare to do something bad. And how sometimes it is so hard to do the right thing because a bad thing might happen to you like the Valkarie men. But even then they will be setting a good example for others. Those men in the movie Valkarie tried and failed to overthrow Hitler to save millions of future victims, and to save their country. Unfortunately they failed and died because of it. However, these mens families, their posterity, and Germany can be proud of such men and many others who would have done the same if the had the opportunity. They are a great example of doing what is right, even if....

We also talked about how Christ was tempted by Satan and never gave in. How they can also just walk away when they are tempted as well. I also shared some experiences about how doing what is right can help others to choose the right. Then we played a game where they had to answer questions based on the lesson. It was a lot of fun, and I could feel the spirit.

"Frequent Flyer" points for the ER?

This week has been a very interesting week with regards to health issues. On Monday, Christyne caught a cold, and started having some moderate asthma problems that were starting to get worse, so I called her doctor, and he saw her right away, gave her some medication, and sent her home. She started feeling better, but she was still coughing a lot. About 9 or 10 pm, she started to complain that her neck hurt really bad and her back also. So I was worried that it might be meningitis or something else bad, so Ossil took her to the ER. They said it was strep throat and gave her some antibiotics and sent her home. Then in the morning on Tuesday , the ER called us and said that a Radiologist had looked at her Xray and had seen a little space of air between her lungs and the wall of her chest, and she had to come back in to get it checked out. So ER visit number 2. The next few days, she rested, took her medication, and since our doctor was on vacation, she had to go back to the ER on Friday to make sure she was OK. ER visit number 3. She was fine. It turns out that sometimes when someone coughs a lot, they can get a very small tear in their lung, and a little air can escape. So it can heal on its own, the person just has to rest, not fly in an airplane, or go under water (pressure issues). So by friday, it had healed, and she was ready for a swimming party. While she was in the ER, they took her temperature many times using an ear thermometer. On Saturday, I had left the thermometer on the counter in the kitchen Christyne found it, and tried to take Ayden's temperature. The only problem is that it was a normal digital thermometer, not for ears. She pushed it right in. Ayden ran into me screaming and in a lot of pain. I looked in his ear and saw a little blood. We called the ER, and they said he should come in. ER visit number 4 in 6 days. His eardrum was OK, and he did have some blood in his ear, but it was just a little cut or something. They gave us some eardrops. He can hear fine out of that ear, and it only hurts a little when he yawns, etc. Well, you can imagine we gave our children the "don't stick anything into your ears or anyone else ear" lecture. It is a good lecture to give to kids. If you haven't done so, do it.

I am sure the bills will be expensive, but I am happy to pay them. After all, with this big Universal Health Care debate, I would rather pay out of my own pocket than have the government pay. That is what our money is for, the health, safety and welfare of our families. Not for things we don't need. First priority of money is the above, any left over - have fun with it or use it any way you want.

That reminds me of something that happened a few months ago. I was told that Andreya was to attend summer school. It was manditory, but there was only so many spots, so I needed to register her soon. How can something be manditory when there aren't enough spots for everyone? Also, it said that breakfast and lunch would be free. I felt insulted by that. I really feel that they should only give free food to those who are in need of it. Ossil is making a good living, making more than ever before, we have money, we want to buy our own children's food. Why is the government just handing out free stuff to those who don't need it. It really annoys me. They should make everyone fill out the form with how much money they make, if they don't have much, give them food, I have no problem with that. But why waste tax payer money, and lay off good teachers because they don't have enough money to keep them, and then pay for food for those who can afford it. Parents should be paying for their own family's food, unless they are poor. That is a basic responsibility of parent hood. Taxes go up, good teachers loose their jobs, classes are more crowded, but the kids whose parents make a good living get free food. People should pay for their own families unless they are really struggling financially. In that case, it is OK to get help when you really need it.

I ended up not putting her in, because her math skills are fine, it is just that she has some reading and writting learning problems. We just kept her home and worked on it herself. We will see how she does. We are also reading scriptures as a family, each person reading. I think this will help her reading also.