Every New Beginning...

...Comes from some other beginning's end. That's a song lyric. That was actually the class song for what would have been my graduating class in Panama. Because the class of 1999 was the last graduating class of Balboa High School. There are many moments I regret not seeing that out and being a part of that historic occasion. But then... I would have missed out on a million other opportunities I did have. Friendships I would have probably never known (Julie). And so I don't regret it too much ;). Life happens. Either way... It's a good lyric. I have definitely been guilty, from time to time, of looking sadly at the closed doors of the past. Wishing that they didn't have to end. But what a marvelous way to look at life: every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. It's all a new adventure :).

So I am facing a new beginning. It is definitely bitter-sweet. But it was time. I resigned from the funeral home on Friday. I won't say it was a decision I definitely wanted. But it is probably what is best, for a number of reasons. I will miss it. I will miss the work (because I really did enjoy what I was doing there). I will miss the good people that I will not see weekly. I will miss the fun parties. But things change, and so sometimes so must we. Plus, it was one of the items I put up on my chopping block when considering things to take off my plate. And sometimes things just work out the way they need to. But I will always carry with me the memories. Always. And with stories like mystery meat, quacking at the Chamber of Commerce, and kegel exercises... How can I not look back and laugh? And I'm sure several of us will still get together from time to time. So it's all good :).

So what other shocking things have wound up on Nilla's "axe" list? As though Monday Meals and the funeral home are not shocking enough.... Actually, those are the big ones. I did rearrange one thing: I no longer walk with Sue on Sundays. We still do Tuesday evenings and we will do Thursday evenings as well through the summer while she doesn't have Bible study on Thursdays. It's nice to get the exercise and to visit with Sue. But at the same time, I needed to eliminate that activity from Sunday, because it wasn't as Sunday-worth an activity as other things I could be doing. And also because I want to have a day with no commitments to anything but my 4.5 hour block of church and choir practice. The other thing that has fallen by the way-side is pleasure reading. I had set a goal to read 30 books this year. I was on fire for a while there. But like I said, Life. Happens. That goal didn't have the same level of priority for me as having a garden or reading my scriptures or attending the Temple monthly, for example. I mostly read during my lunch break. But even that I am starting to rearrange a little bit. Because sometimes I get home and find it easy to work on a million different projects (which can also be read as wasting time, because sometimes that's all I'm really doing...) and then, before I know it, it's 11:00 and I haven't set aside the time to read scriptures. Which means I'm up later and not focusing as well. I have been doing better with this, but I have also started taking my scriptures to work to read on my lunch break also. It makes me happy to know I have made the effort early enough to make sure it is not just done, but done more effectively, as far as me being able to remember what I read and get something out of it :).

So now that I have filled you in on all the changes I'm making in my life to focus my efforts on the things with most value... I suppose I should tell you some of the more wonderful moments of my week :).

• Wednesday I went Visiting Teaching with Wendy. We only visited one lady so far, but I'm looking forward to visiting with the others on our list.
• I cleaned out the strawberry bed and it is now looking a lot better. I've also picked a lot of strawberries! I'm loving that :).
• Brad had the kids for the weekend. And while this can be chaotic, it also brings loads of laughter and love. Like when I first get home on Thursday and Saria comes out and hugs me hello, and they all say, "Aunt Hila!" Plus, I submit the following photos for your consideration ;). (These are from Sunday night... I'm not sure what is so exciting about "goofy" pictures, but the kids sure do love them...).
  

• I enjoyed phone calls and texts from my wonderful Jeremy :). (P.S... That smiley face just automagically appears... Because I'm so happy :)).

• I went to the Temple with my mom on Friday evening and then took her to eat at the Cheesecake Factory for her birthday (which was the 5th). She had never been to the Cheesecake Factory, so I felt we needed to rectify that with this culinary fete. I did tell the server that it was a belated birthday celebration for my mom. He offered to embarrass her, but she said no thanks. But he still arranged for something nice (see picture below). That was the Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake. We split it. So huge. So good. And I got sweet potato fries and they were soooo good. I got my usual cajun chicken littles. And I was happy to note they'd added a bit more salt back into the batter :). So many choices on the menu, but I really wanted the choice of accompaniments, so I went with old faithful ;). On the way home, I had to convince my mom that Aerosmith did not sing the song Iris (which is by the GooGoo Dolls). I'm not even sure why my mom was singing that song in the first place, but it always makes me laugh the way my mom surprises me ;).
• I spent a marvelous afternoon and evening with Jeremy. We ate at the pizza place again, and this time we tried a hot pizza with jalapenos on it. It was pretty tasty. Also had alfredo sauce, and I wasn't sure what I'd think about that. But it was definitely good. That place just has good pizza. Then we went to the State Park and studied scriptures and walked around the park and enjoyed being together. But then we learned that State Parks will now require a "discovery pass" (as of July 1) that costs $30. What!?! $30 to park in your park? Ugh. Lame. If you don't have one, it's a $99 fine. Thankfully we learned this during the "education period" when they aren't actually ticketing people. So. Lame. Grr. Because that is a beautiful park, and there are never many people there, which makes it nice for scripture study. Double grrrr.... Oh well. I don't know if we will invest in that or not. Frankly, I'm cheap and I don't appreciate the newly-instated rule. I contributed $5 to the State Parks when I renewed my car tabs. That has to be good for something, right ;)? Oh well. We still had a wonderful day/evening together. That always ends way too quickly. In these moments, I'm totally not a fan of the whole "time is relative" thing. Because I'm pretty convinced that there are times in my life when time drags way out so that it can be short in the cool fun moments ;). Haha. Okay, so maybe not. But it seriously feels that way. Example: 9 hours at work (including lunch) = 12 hours; 8 hours with Jeremy = 2 hours. And that's bad math no matter how you want to look at it ;).
• We had all the kiddos at church on Sunday. When I got in to Sacrament, everyone was already sitting in the pew. Emily saw me sit on the other end of the pew, shoved her way through all the kids, crawled up on my lap and wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder. That baby girl (who isn't a baby anymore...) sure knows how to make me feel so loved by her. I just held her and rocked her back and forth for as long as she would allow me to in that position (which was the whole opening song). These moments are fleeting, and they are far too precious to waste. Of course, she wound up being a bit of a pill the remainder of Sacrament. But even so... She went to nursery, and Desiree likes to go into nursery while I drop off Emily and sit and play with the toys for a few minutes before I make her go with me to Primary. On Sunday, the nursery leader hadn't quite gotten in there yet, so I was hanging out until she did. So I told Desiree to go on to her class and she came and sat in my lap and said, "But I want to be a family and stay with you." What a rotten! So I just held her until there were enough adults in nursery for me to leave. I had Sharing Time this week, and I think it went pretty well. Then I went to check on nursery later and when Emily saw me go in the door, she ran to me and said, "Aunt Hila!" Okay, maybe not quite all syllables correct. But I know she didn't call me Ha. She's growing up. I adore the kids. I really do. Brad took Saria, Samuel, and Benjamin home after Sacrament, because they were all coughing. Choir went well and then I came home where I had lunch and tried to take a nap, to no avail. Brad was working and the kids weren't interested in napping. Oh well.

And today was back to work. Nothing stellar, just the sameold. I will say that I am glad I still make the time to blog. It's fun to remember over my week and smile at the good happy moments :).