Mother and baby are doing fine - finally

After a long week at the hospital my little birthday present finally got to come home today. We are all thrilled, but none are as thrilled as Beth and Bruce.

Rachel developed some breathing problems soon after she was born - she was having a hard time adjusting to being out of the womb and in our world. She started by having to have oxygen, then progressed to an IV and heart monitors. She was moved to the NICU, and after that came a feeding tube, and at the end some time trying to get a tan under the biliruben lights. Well, six-day story short, she is now well enough adjusted to come home.

I am so happy to live close enough to visit every day and keep Rachel and Beth and Bruce company. Thank you to the wonderful nursing staff at American Fork hospital, and a doctor who kept a close eye on our little girl. Thanks to all the friends and family who kept them in their prayers and thoughts.

In the words of Fannie Flagg: "Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!" We're so glad to have you here.

The Alpine Scandal by Mary Daheim

This is another mystery series I've enjoyed. It takes place in a fictional town in the Northwest called Alpine - near Steven's ski resort. I think a lot of the reason I like the series is because of all the local stuff in the book. 

The series begins with The Alpine Advocate. Each book thereafter is in alphabetical order (The Alpine Betrayal is next). Emma Lord is the main character, and she owns the local weekly paper - the Alpine Advocate. She gets involved in solving local murders.  The characters are not deep, but the books are a nice light read when that's what I'm looking for. 

Mary Daheim also has a bed and breakfast mystery series that takes place on Queen Anne hill in Seattle. I've read a few of those but I didn't get hooked as much with that series. 

The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy by Elizabeth Aston

I like these books. Written in an Austenesque style, they branch off from Pride and Prejudice. The original Austin characters are very remote in these books - referred to rather than included in the books. They've been fun reads.

Well now that travels are over, I'm back to real life, and I'm sure my reading list will not continue to grow at this same rate.

Too bad.

Happy Birthday to me!

Here she is: Rachel Diane Petersen, born January 25 at 7:44 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs 10 oz, and is 19 inches long. She is beautiful! She's the best birthday present I ever received.

Princess of the Sword by Lynn Kurland

This is the third book in the series of the Nine Kingdoms. I love to read Lynn's books, and I liked all three of these, even though I'm not usually a fantasy fan. This is more of a romantic fantasy, so it worked for me. 

Travel is wondrous for getting a lot of reading time in!

Home again, home again

I was packed last night. This morning I woke up before the alarm. I was ready to go, and Cheryl came 15 minutes early to take me to the airport. I arrived, checked my overstuffed bag, and went through security (Seattle is always slow and crowded - that was true today). I made it to the gate in plenty of time. We boarded on time, and flew back to Salt Lake with no problems. My bag arrived safe and sound, and Ray was there to pick me up. 

Now that is the way to travel!

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

I don't think I mentioned the setting of all these books. Maisie Dobbs is an investigator, and the books all take place in England - mostly London - in the early 1930's. There is a lot of flashback to the Great War (known to us Americans as WWI). In fact the cases Maisie takes on in each book have something to do with the war.

I have enjoyed the books, and look forward to the new one due out next month. I think it's best to read the first one first if possible (Maisie Dobbs), but it's not absolutely necessary to read the other ones in order. I like to do that if I can, but if you can't get one book, try for another.

Oh, what a day!

I am often mocked in my family for my early preparations when I travel. I am usually packed ahead of time, and I prefer to be at the airport at least an hour early. Otherwise I get anxious, and the travel is not as enjoyable for me. So, to get ready for my trip to Seattle today, I packed yesterday morning, and even went so far as to lay out my clothing for today. I set the alarm last night so I'd be up in plenty of time.

The alarm did not go off. I woke up at 8:26 (I never sleep that late!). My flight was at 9:35. Holy smoke! I bolted out of bed, and after a brief glance in the mirror knew I had to shower and wash my hair. I got a haircut yesterday. The woman who cuts my hair put so much hairspray in that I was afraid to be near an open flame. Consequently this morning the hair was a complete nightmare. I jumped in the shower, washed my hair, and hurriedly dressed. I realized it would be cutting it close at the airport (it's a good 30 minutes from my house). So I quickly had Ray put all my stuff in a smaller suitcase that I could carry on. Then I had to pull the liquids out so I could get through security. All that was done quick as a wink, and we were in the car, ready to go by 8:32 (six minutes).

Ray drove at a fairly sedate pace for him. Traffic was bad at that time of the morning, but we arrived at the airport by 9:05. By now I was very relaxed - security at the Salt Lake airport is very efficient, and usually very fast to get through. I walked in - oh no - a very long line. Well, they were efficient, and I got through by 9:20. I dashed to my gate - why are they always so far? And I walked right to my place in line (Southwest airlines). 30 seconds later I was on the plane. Whew! Who would have thought?

Once on the plane, I opened my book and began to read. This is standard travel procedure for me. Free, uninterrupted time to read - what more could I want? The captain came on with the usual info. Blah, blah, weather, visibility, etc. I thought, "who cares about all this stuff? Just fly the plane". At about that time what he was saying started registering in my little brain. There was no visibility in Seattle, and we were being diverted to Portland. Diverted we were. Then they combined our flight with another flight. After a few hours in the Portland airport, we got back on the plane and I finally landed in Seattle only four and a half hours later than scheduled. Luckily I had an extra book (more standard travel procedure), and could start a new one when I finished my other one.

Then I went to catch the shuttle to my parents' house. Luck was with me there. I only had to wait five minutes until the next shuttle. I arrived at my parents at 5:00 p.m. instead of noon. So much for the afternoon together! But I did arrive safe and sound, and thankfully had my luggage with me so nothing got lost.

Hopefully the rest of my trip will be uneventful. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Beth won't go into labor until I get back...

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

This is the fourth book in the Maisie Dobbs series. I finished it on the plane today. Then I started the fifth book in the series!

Her next book (sixth) will be available in February - Among the Mad.

Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear

The third book in the Maisie Dobbs series. I'm still really liking these books. I stayed up too late last night to finish this book.

Maybe it's time to get back to real life...

...maybe when I've finished the last two of these books that I've got - still sitting right at the side of my bed.

Draper Utah Temple

The Draper Utah temple open house for the general public began today. Our stake was assigned to serve today, and Ray and I were both able to do so. What a wonderful experience!

They needed several hundred people to do the various jobs today - so we only saw how one little piece of it worked - and it worked beautifully. It makes you realize how much work and coordination goes into something like this. Our job was to be "bus ushers".

There is no parking available at the temple itself for the tours (except ADA and some VIP parking), so the general public is assigned to one of three stake centers on their ticket reservations. A short video is shown at the stake center, then the patrons board the bus (this is where we come in) to go to the temple. We helped people on the bus, and had a script we read while riding to the temple. Then the people were let off the bus right at the entrance to the tour. Once the bus was empty, we went around the corner to pick up a group who had finished the tour to come back to our assigned stake center. We did this for our entire shift. It was so fun to meet people. We had a lot of people from Spanish Fork (it was their stake's day to come), and people from a lot of other places as well. This was an ideal assignment for me and Ray: we could talk the whole time. I don't know if I could be one of the people inside the temple. They are instructed to smile and direct. No talking unless absolutely necessary. Although I was willing to serve where asked, this was much more pleasant for me.

After our shift we took the tour ourselves. What a beautiful temple! It has a similar feeling somehow to the Timpanogos and Bountiful temples. Maybe because of the windows and how the light comes through. It is smaller than I expected. I love the simplicity of it, and artwork is especially beautiful.

If you live locally, take the tour! I recommend you see it sooner rather than later if possible. I think it will get very crowded.

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

It's book candy time! This is another mystery in the Maisie Dobbs series. I'm really enjoying this series.

The Snow Turtle

My sister's kids loved the snow when they were here. So after skiing one day (oops - they snowboard), they spent some time out playing in the snow. When finished they called us all to see what they had fashioned: a snow turtle. It was at least 4 feet in diameter - maybe more, and two to three feet high. I tried to get a picture of it, but it just looks like a giant white mound in the picture. In real life there is a head, and flippers. It's very well done.

I thought to myself - interesting that they would build a turtle (they live in Hawaii).  Of course that's something familiar to them. Then I thought - we build snowmen that bear no resemblance to a man.  Theirs was more fun.  

The turtle is still out in the yard in pretty good shape, although most of the snow around it is melted. I hope it lasts a long time, because I think of them everytime I see it.

Vacation response: Dr. Mario is temporarily out of the office

My kids have been playing video games since the first Nintendo set came out. I never really caught the fever (pun intended) except for the game Dr. Mario. It's an old game - much too plain and simple for most gamers these days. I have always had fun playing it with my children, but most of all with my sisters. Every time we get together, whether in Washington, Hawaii, or Utah, we break out the old school Nintendo box, plug in the game, and play for hours. Sometimes it takes quite a bit of maneuvering to get the game to work, but we always manage to get it going. 

This winter break both my sisters were here for a visit. Tweeter was here with her family to ski, and Cheryl came for a few days so we could all be together. Every day we'd look at each other, flex our thumbs,  say "ready for a game?", and we were off and running. We're pretty evenly matched, so no one really came out the champion. We just had a great time talking and playing. 

It was a little sad last night to play the last game, and put it all away. So, while Dr. Mario is temporarily out of the office, he'll be back the next time we get together. Hopefully it won't be too long!

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Another mystery series for me to fall in love with. Audrey discovered it, and I finally had time to read it. I liked it quite a bit.

It takes place in England - 1929, with lots of flashbacks to WWI. I thought it was well written, and it kept me interested the whole time.  (When you don't feel well it's easier to find time to read). 

There are five more books in the series so far - four of them are sitting by the side of my bed, just waiting for me to have a little spare time. 

'Tis the Season! by Lorna Landvik

Cute Christmas story. Light and fun. Just what I needed.

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland

I liked this book quite a bit. I have been so busy lately that I was only able to read about 3 pages at a time for quite a while (It took me about a month to read this book I just read back in my blog - it was only two weeks - it felt like a month). I think had I been able to really delve into it immediately I would have liked it even more. By the end I had more time to devote to it, and really enjoyed it.

This book is the story (fiction, but based on known facts) of the painting of Renoir's Les dejeuner des canotiers. (Luncheon of the Boating Party).

I also liked Vreeland's Girl in Hyacinth Blue, which I read a few years ago.