I've been tagged!

OK, I've been tagged by Liseysmom to do this little meme thing. What on God's green earth does meme mean?! Help!

Here goes:

3 smells that I love:

• Rain, and wood after it's been in the rain.
  
• Fresh laundry when I use Purex instead of that cheap Costco bucket crap.
• Oil paint on canvas, because that means I've been doing what I love best.

3 smells that I hate:

• Raspberry farts - you know who you are! That was VILE. When we doin' it again?!
  
• Diesel exhaust from trucks or large construction heaters.
• Stale fast food in a closed car. Don't ask.
  

3 jobs I've had in my life:

• Bookkeeper at a grocery store
  
• Assistant deli manager at a grocery store
  
• Office babe extraordinnaire

3 movies that I could watch over and over:

• Love Actually
• Anne of Green Gables
• Princess Bride
  

3 fond memories:

• My year as an exchange student in Austria
• The night of the Raspberry Farts. Maybe I'll tell, maybe I won't.
• Trip to Hawaii. I want to go back...

3 jobs I would love to have:

• Fine Artist & Stay at Home Mom
  
• Portrait Artist & SAHM
  
• Artist Extraordinnaire. (I love the word Extraordinnaire. Am I spelling it right?)

3 places I have lived:

• Montana
• Utah
• Austria

3 things I like to do:

• Eat at Olive Garden (sorry Montchan, didn't mean to rub it in) with you know who you are!
  
• Play hooky
  
• Watch old black & white movies with my kids & hubby.

3 of my favorite foods:

• Steak & potatoes.
• Shish kabobs with steak, peppers, 'shrooms, onions, grilled to perfection in our Holland Grill. Heaven help me.
• Chinese food, especially gai ding almond chicken.

3 places I would like to be right now:

• That special rocky beach we found in Hawi town, Hawaii (Big Island)
• Austria, duh.
• In bed in my man's arms. Stop thinking nasty thoughts. He's comfy, OK?

3 websites I visit daily:

• www.marcbohne.com - great landscape artist from Seattle
• www.lipking.com - great figurative and landscape artist
• Blogs on my blogroll, among others.
  

3 things that make me cry:

• Any conversation I have during PMS week. Shit. Here I go again...J/K
  
• The song in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame - God Help the Outcasts
• Song by Martina McBride - Concrete Angel

3 friends that I am tagging:

• Jazzy, my awesome sis-in-law, and more importantly, my friend.
• Janet - because your wit is awesome. No pressure! Don't forget the awesome, astounding, alliterations aplenty. Verbosity is allowed.
  
• La - you know you totally want to do this! Let the good times roll!
• And, just to be a rebel, because I hope I have WAY MORE THAN 3 FRIENDS WHO WILL READ THIS: all of you! I couldn't name you all or I'd be up all night, even though I really really wanted to. I mean it! Go ahead and do this meme thingy.
  

Happiness Is...

I discovered this morning that there is one way to make this not-a-morning-person smile.

Walking by the stairs, I heard my 13 year old son's shower running downstairs, and what music did he have blaring from his CD player??

Bing Crosby singing Silver Bells.

Blogaholics Anonymous

I'd like to welcome you all to Blogaholics Anonymous. Wow! We have a great sized group here today! Please, can everyone move their chairs back just a bit to make room for more chairs? We have some people in the back who haven't sat down yet. Come on in! Take a seat! Thank you.

Aaah, welcome! For those of you who don't know how this works, this is a support group for poeple who have admitted to themselves and possibly loved ones that they have an addiction to blogging. Nobody is asked to give their real identity here. Most of us go by our first names. We try to make this a safe zone where anything you need to say can be said without harm or judgement from others.

Our meeting consists of Sharing Time, with those people who wish to speak each taking a turn to tell others how they are doing with their addiction, although remember you don't have to share if you don't feel like it. Please start by telling your name, and how long you've been addicted to blogging. Then anything you say is up to you. There is a simple rule that we should each respect each other's right to say what's on their mind, and not to criticize or belittle anyone in the group. At the end, there are cookies, coffee, and juice on the table over there, and you can stay and chat as long as you like.

That being said, I'd like to start.

Hi, my name is Sister Mary Lisa. I've been blogging for 63 days now. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to quit. It's been so hard! I feel like my day is not complete unless I read every single blog on my blogroll, as well as those listed on the blogrolls of the blogs on my blogroll. I find it great when I discover new blogs and can't wait to find the next great blog. It's like I can't function anymore without it. And I love writing! Who knew? I thought I was only meant for creating art, but no. I love writing too. Now I have to divide my free time between the two, and right now it looks like blogging could easily take over.

I'm losing sleep because of blogging. I wish I couldn't eat because of blogging (I really need to lose a few pounds), but unfortunately it's just my sleep being affected. Oh, and my work. I'm having difficulty getting my filing done. I keep telling myself, "I'll think about that tomorrow." Hey! That makes me think of a new post I'd like to write...Scarlett O'Hara on procrastination....

Oh, sorry, my thoughts got away from me for a moment. What I'm trying to say is that blogging totally consumes me, but I don't want to get so bad in my addiction to where I have to go for the radical treatment known as HIATUS. I spit on the very idea. I'm hoping by coming to these meetings I'll find a cure for my addiction.

Thank you.

He's Ba - aaaack!

Today I got another letter in the mail from Mr. Ward Clerk. I'll post it here and you can decide for yourself what you think. I'm copying exactly as he wrote it...

Dear Sister F,

I just got home from Poplar, MT. I flew up there & picked up a young man with down's Syndrome who also has heart trouble. It is raining & cold, feels like winter is fast approaching.

I wanted to share something with you that I have learned about the nature of our Heavenly Father. He is so loving and Kind, and especially patient. On thursdays I serve as an ordinance worker out at the Temple. The ordinances need to be preformed accurately & correctly, yet we don't get any "practice runs." We study what we need to do & then go forward with Faith. We all make mistakes at one time or another, but our Infinite Heavenly Father (who is infiniately loving, kind & patient) understands that we are not perfect & accepts the best we can do. He also helps us to preform beyond our normal abilities.

The other night we were getting ready for dinner & I asked J. to go get the ketchup. So, of he goes running into the kitchen and tells (my wife) "I'm getting the ketchup mommy!" He is not big enough to open the Fridge door so I told him to ask mom for help. Instead, he runs up to the the fridge & knocks on the door, puts his ear to it to listen, and then holds up his hands & shrugs while saying "Nobody coming!"

Saturday evening (my wife) & I got to go out on a date (rare event but very nice). J. saw (my wife) putting on some lipstick & asked "Mom, are you & Dad going to get more babies?" He is such a character.

I was really angry at one time in my life. I stopped going to church, didn't want to serve, didn't want anything. It all started back when I was the Elder's Quorum President. Some one said something to me that offended me. It festered & snowballed. I came really close to losing my family over it. It was so EASY to be mad & find offence. Pretty soon I didn't know anything else but that. It was so HARD to stop being angry & to stop looking for offence. I have discovered that the path that has the least resistance usually leads away from the straight & narrow path.

Back in 1995 my parents, who had been married for 25 years divorced. I was 22 and we had joined the church when I was 4. At first I was really upset. "Mormons aren't supposed to get divorced." I kept telling myself. I was mad, hurt, sad, upset. My parents had been un-happy for a very long time. My mother never had anything good to say about my dad. She would yell a lot. I remember hearing "Bob N, I have never..." or "You are so...." Fill in the blank and you get the picture. My dad was not perfect. He was a closet Drinker & abused pain pills be cause of a back injury. So, after being upset I really thought about it & in my parents' case, they really were better off being divorced. My mom, for a number of years after, always refered to it as "Bob's divorce." She would always come over & just go off on my dad, & always end with "But I'm not bitter." She was so bitter she made lemons seem sweet. My dad used to be in contact a lot. He remarried about a year later & his new wife took him to the cleaners & then divorced him. I bailed him out of that & then he got involved with a lady from Minnesota. Sold everything & moved back east. It lasted about 6 mos & he came back, lived with us for about 6 mos. Now I haven't heard from him in a long time. It was about 2 yrs & we heard he was in the hospital. Drove to Helena to visit. Another 2 yrs. passed with no contact & so off to Helena we go & we tracked him down. I had written him a letter & he sent it Back! We found him. It's been about 2 yrs with no contact. You probably didn't really want to know all this & are probably thinking "Whoa dude, too much information." I can't say as I blame you. Although, I find my disfunctional LDS family funny, insane, sad & maddening all at the same time. Back in 1985, we were on a church float trip down the Jefferson River in Three Forks to the Missouri headwaters. My middle brother, K. (14) drowned at the headwaters. I was the last to see him alive. Why am I telling you this, I don't really know. I just sort of feel we have trodden down familiar paths. Please write me & tell me your thoughts. You can tell me I'm crazy, pathetic, or what ever. I'm pretty easy to talk too. Here's my e-mail: *****@bresnan.net. We truly missed seeing your family at Church today. I remember the last time you bore your testimony & I felt the spirit when you did.

Have a great day!! (with smily face below the exclamation point dots for eyes)
(Phone # inserted in margin)

Sincerely, J.N.

So, my first reaction is the desire to send him a single sheet of paper in the mail, with this in big, bold letters:

WTF??

Renting a billboard might work, right?

I enjoyed breakfast with my daughter at her "Memories with Moms" event at the school this morning, and I was walking with her to her class at the end, when suddenly there in front of me was a woman from my ward, whose kids go to another school, but since their school has too many kindergartners, they ship them to our school. I have always liked her but never made time to become actual call-each-other friends.

After we said hi and figured out why she was there, she said, "I'm your new visiting teaching partner! We need to find out when we can figure out the whole lunch thing and do our visits." I stared at her and wondered if I should say something now...is it easy to just say to her face, "I don't go to church anymore"? I just didn't think a lunchroom full of kids and people was the place, so I told her I'd call her. (You may call me chicken if you wish!)

Now, if the RS president, who was the first to know I was questioning the church, who MUST know that we haven't been there, and that I asked to be released from my calling, hasn't figured things out by now, then I am non-plussed. I have no idea what to say or do. Is the bishop clueless? Is she?

I'm going to draft a letter and send it to the bishop and the RS president. In it I plan to tell them that I looked into the church's origins, and from the knowledge I have gained, I've come to the conclusion that the church is not true. I'll explain my specific findings that led me to my knowledge, and that I'm not explaining to debate the issues, but so that they'd know I wasn't offended by anyone or that I just want to be inactive. Maybe then they'll leave me alone and I'll get some peace!

I'm going to draft the letter so I can also e-mail it to my TBM dad and Austrian host family at the same time. Even though I want to get it behind me and move on, apparently I can't until I explain myself. Anything less just drags the torture on and on and on.

If a letter doesn't work.....

You may remember the latest letter (aka Love Bomb) I got from the ward clerk whom I don't know or talk to...

Last night we were sitting at home watching a movie together as a family, when the phone rings. It was Sister Ward Clerk, whom I've rarely spoken to, and never outside the realm of primary. She was only recently called to the primary, so I don't know her at all.

"Hello?"

"Hi! It's J.N."

"Hi."

"I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate all your hard work and dedication in primary. Sometimes people don't tell people at church how much they appreciate them, and I didn't want that to happen to you."

"Thanks."

"OK, well, I didn't see you at church today. Is everything OK?"

"Just fine. I've never been better, actually."

"Oh.....Ok, then. Just wanted to say I really appreciate your hard work and dedication. Goodbye, then.

"Goodbye."

I have to say I'm not quite sure why these people want to contact me like this, unless the bishop asked them to. But they are the ones with the little kids who bear their testimony from the time they can first babble incoherently into the microphone when they are toddlers. Their daughter, who's my daughter's age (8), is the one who gets uber upset each time the class has fun or laughs or plays a game, because it's not reverent. I feel sorry for them.

Do they really want me to tell them outright why I'm not there, when they obviously already know why? Do they really actually think such a lukewarm letter and phone call are the pivotal thing that'll bring me back into the fold? It's insulting when they act like they think I must be AWOL because someone didn't appreciate me or thank me for all my hard work. If that had been the case, I'd have been inactive as a Beehive in young womens.

I'm thinking the next time they contact me, I'll ask them "Why are you calling me, really? Did the bishop put you up to this?" Or I'll say, "I have one question for you to answer immediately: What's my husband's name?" When they flounder and don't know, I'll say, "Since you obviously don't know me, please quit calling and writing me. I know the church isn't true, but friendship is, and you aren't even my friend, so drop it already."