Sandi Chats

I just saw something on Facebook which triggered a trip down memory lane for me, so I am going to share it for all you who will also remember this relic from the past: It was always a big day at our house when I was a kid and the mail-order catalogs arrived in the mail. We used to get the Sears, Roebuck catalog, Montgomery Ward, J.C. Penney and a small catalog called Alden's. These catalogs were full of wonderful items that could potentially be owed by me. Pages and pages of colored pictures with descriptions of the item. I seem to remember that we got about 3 catalogs each year from each of these companies, the Fall/Winter catalog, the Christmas catalog, and the Spring/Summer catalog. Late each summer we scoured the fall/winter catalogs for our school clothes, dresses of course, plus sock, slips, underwear and shoes! We made our choices, Mom monitored the choices and made out the order. Viola, in about a week our purchases arrived in the post office and we were dressed for school....

 Hey, coming to you from sunny Arizona! To say we are glad we escaped the frozen tundra known as Nebraska when we did is a serious understatement. It was way more luck than wisdom that we left when we did, but the results are the same! We have been looking at Facebook and texting and talking with family and friends who are enduring this miserable weather and hearing all the stories of people stranded and unable to get to where they would like to be. Looks to me like if you are stuck at home, that's a good place to be! This series of crazy winter storms has brought back some memories that we wish we didn't have. I've seen several Facebook recollections of December 1983, and we remember that year way too well! Rather than retelling the story, I am reposting a previous blog where I recalled that miserable December.  From March 2018: You may recognize the title of this blog as also being the title of a Laura Ingalls Wilder book where Laura describes a winter from her childhood ...

  Good Monday morning...a new week with new possibilities! I have a ton of stuff I want to get done this week, but I am going to take a few minutes to sit down and type out some thoughts and hopefully get a few chuckles out of you, spread some cheer and inspiration, and probably get a whole bunch of eye rolls! As many of you probably saw, I had a BIG birthday last week. It wasn't a big celebration, just a big new number. Yep, turned 70! I don't know why but for some reason that really seems old to me. And yet, I don't feel any older than I ever have.  In fact, I have had the unique privilege of "un-aging". The oldest I've ever been is 66, four years ago. I was so sick and stressed and in so much pain that each day was just an exercise in exhaustion. I received the "gift" of shingles for my birthday that year, worst gift ever! I always thought of shingles as a rash, and I wasn't wrong, but it's the rash from hell plus fever and pain and nausea...

  Poof! Just like that I've turned around and it is October! The summer, and now the fall, have flown by so fast that it's making my head swim. Just today I switched the kitchen calendar from August to October! Running a bit behind, I know! The red maple in the front yard is now in brilliant fall color, which means about next week it will probably be bare. Seems those leaves don't stay on long after they turn red. But for today we are enjoying it. So what have we been up to? Well, after the Yellowstone Anniversary Trip we had planned to just settle down for the rest of the summer and enjoy an easy and laid-back lifestyle. Like that ever happens! At the end of July, we hosted Mike's sibling reunion at our house. After Mike's mother passed away, the kids seemed to sense that it was going to be harder to stay in touch, so they have made a concerted effort to get together once a year. We don't necessarily invite all the nieces and nephews, but we sure don't turn...

In my last blog I talked about our trip to Yellowstone to celebrate our 50th anniversary. I had meant to get home and get right to downloading my pictures and sharing our trip with you...and now we've been home for nearly a month! In my defense, when we arrived home the kids all came for a day or two so that we could take family pictures. When the last kids left for home on Sunday morning, we headed back to bed feeling nasty! Turns out there was a lady on our ill-fated Yellowstone Park tour who had a nasty cough. I asked her if she had a cold, but she assured me that it was "just allergies". Turns out that allergies are apparently contagious because we came down with a doozy of a cough and cold. In retrospect we figure it was most likely covid since neither of us has been able to enjoy the taste of anything we've eaten since then! So we've been trying to recover and keep up with life. Today I finally downloaded the pictures on my camera, and my memories came flood...

1972...50 years ago! Funny, it doesn't seem all that long ago, but my how the time does fly! This past weekend we celebrated a 50-year milestone, Mike's high school class reunion. It brought back lots of memories, and as we visited with his fellow classmates, a lot more memories came back. We enjoyed reconnecting with old friends and catching up on everyone's lives. We've all added to our family trees and our waistlines, and most of the guys have a lot less hair than in 1972! But by and large, the changes are positive. Another big event, you might even call it a "life-changing" event, was our marriage. June 16, 1972, a day that signifies a big turning point in our lives. Looking back, I'm pretty sure people were doubting how long this marriage could last. Two young kids who didn't have a clue how the world or life worked. We didn't really have a plan for our future, no financial security, and were unbelievable immature and self-centered. People wer...

Good Sunday afternoon! Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful and relaxing weekend. A week from today we will have celebrated our Savior's birth in the form of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or whatever day you celebrate. Or many may still be awaiting the celebration as the holidays have gotten so hectic that many of the family get-togethers are put off until a later time when everyone is less stressed about the holidays. We had our first family gathering on Friday night, our last Christmas party last night, and this morning was the wrap up on the church Christmas program. Basically, that leaves only two family gatherings left.  This year is bittersweet as it marks one year since my mother left this earth to meet her Savior. This year I have had two friends who lost one of their parents in the past week or so. While I would have naturally reflected on my mother's death this week, knowing friends are facing this same loss this year brings back the memories of that time afresh. I...