Grandma Carole reports they have already been out and about. I think we stayed in for weeks before venturing out into the world after our babies were born--and that was after spending a week in the hospital!! It is a whole new world.
He had graduated from Las Vegas High in 1949 and entered BYU and was active in the Brigadier Social Unit. He enjoyed the social part of college very much and his social unit won the winning float in the Homecoming Parade and Richard was in the Brigadier singing group in the 1950 Songfest. Richard's Dad died when Ruchard was only 11 and it is very obvious from his letters that money was a real problem in Richard's life. He finally left college in 1951 and joined the Navy and then came back to college in January 1954 under the G I Bill and then left for his mission to San Antonio, Texas in June 1955.
Evidently at that time they went directly to the mission field and so he had to learn to speak Spanish while on his mission and not before. I am just going to write a few things that gave me a smile or a laugh from his letters from Texas. Nothing serious today, just some laughs.
"Chuck, Eleanor, Marion, Aunt Winona, Uncle Will and Aunt Lois came down to see me off from the SL airport. They gave me some cash ($6.00) and a nice lunch." ($6.00 went a long way in 1955) "Well, things are pretty dull around here and I feel like a prisoner. I can't go anywhere or do anything. All I am supposed to do is study, 6 AM to 10:30 PM, all I can do is read and eat." (From the mission home in San Antonio)
"I'm picking up a few Spanish words and I've memorized a blessing on the food. I also lead the singing in Spanish and I don't even know what they are singing." "I went to the branch meeting on Sunday and I didn't understand one word that was said."
"How's my car holding up? The District Presidents have so much responsibility and get so many calls to settle family arguments, I've decided it would be better riding my bicycle than being a D.P. with a car. You better keep the car around in case I ever get a chance to use it some place though."
"Too bad you upset yourself by opening my mail, but really, I can't think of a better time to have my license suspended. Believe it or not it was a surprise, and if you didn't tell them I was habitually negligent in my driving practices, I can't imagine how they found out. I was keeping it a secret from everyone but you."
"A lot of the people around here think we are the police (detectives) and when we go to the doors where teen age boys live, sometimes their mother will tell us they are not there before we have a chance to state our business."
"It sure is hard to keep in the mood to have people slam doors in your face."
"That leaking seal couldn't have been the one that screws up tight on the drive shaft could it? You are supposed to look under the car once in awhile and tighten a few of those things. By the way, the Chevrolet is one of those new-fangled kind that has to have the oil changed now and then. Don't get me wrong, it is your car now, but I hate to see the poor thing blamed for everything. If it was worth only $50, it would still be the best car in the world". (To his brother Scott, who bought the Chevrolet he left home)
Anyway, children and grandchildren, just a little mission and 50's humor from your Dad and granddad, courtesy of a loving mother who saved all his letters. Happy Birthday, Richard, we love and miss you.
What a great weekend I have just had. It started with a trip on Friday with Mary Anne and Jean to the Reno Temple. There were not too many of us there but it was a very spiritual experience and I am so glad I joined them on their monthly trek. I was reminded of when Richard and I were called to serve at the San Diego Temple a few years before he passed away. We were both working full time, he as the head of the private loan side of our mortgage business and me as the head of the
brokering side of Choice Mortgage. We were both working over 60 hours a week and wondered how we could possibly have the time. We accepted the calling though, of course, and were assigned from 6 am to 12 noon on Wednesdays. How could we possibly do that, we wondered, we had hoped for Saturdays. We had to leave our Rancho Bernardo home before sunup to be at the Temple in La Jolla at 6 and then straight to the office after lunch at the Temple. There were always umpteen calls to make and frustrated employees and clients wanting our time and we always had to stay very late taking care of business. But that call to serve was a. great, great blessing in our busy, busy life. Those six hours on Wednesday mornings became an oasis in the hectic, often frustrating work week. I also think those last years of Richard's were his most spiritual and perhaps some of the happiest of our married life and I know it was all because of our service to the Lord in the San Diego Temple. 
Bette Davis is considered one of the top ten female movie stars of all time. I do not know who the others are but this I do know--You will never be disappointed in a Bette Davis movie. There were a lot of silly movies made in the black and white era. But none of them were Bette Davis movies. She is amazing.
Today I watched two of them--thank heaven for TCM and my recorder. I watch movies while doing my house work, while dressing, while working on my photo books. So much better to watch a good movie than the network shows. Anyway I saw "The Old Maid" and "Old Acquaintances". Both were wonderful even if they were made over 70 years ago. Here's to Bette and her beautiful eyes and exemplary acting skills.
This is one of my favorite pictures that John took on his trip to Peru. The little children liked to get down on their tummies and peek in to the tents of the hikers. He liked to photograph their curiosity.
We love and miss you, John.
olate Store in Gamla Stan.
When I am living at the Pulsipher's I love to eat all their left overs. There can be steak and potatoes left from Sunday that I can live on for three days!! And then there is always the goodies in the cupboard. I am not always sure whose they are but if they are there, they are to eat, right?
I also found that the way I used to eat was the right way to eat. I ate all the foods I enjoyed including bread and muffins and butter and if I wanted a sweet I didn't deprive myself. Before I was married I remember my helicopter friend saying he liked to take me out to dinner because I enjoyed eating so much--he also called me "queen of the goodies racket". Now if I have the urge to eat that cookie I will try and convince myself it is bad for me and eat something good for me like cottage cheese, and then an apple, and then some celery, etc. before finally giving in and eating the cookie. In the meantime I have added another 600 calories to my food intake. Much better to listen to your body and just not eat so much.
So when did I start this diet syndrome? It was after I had one of the babies. I realized I had gained 12 lbs since I had married and I went to Weight Watchers. When they weighed me in at 129 they said the program was not really designed for me. But I felt so fat!
The other reason for wrong eating that applies to me is 'The Emotional Outcry'. "The heart is crying out to be nurtured, but we may literally try to stuff the sadness or anger back down with food." quoting Debra Waterhouse. Been there, done that. So I can see the trick will be deciphering when the body is asking for food and when my heart is...
Yes, this is a book to learn from... I can see the exercise part is coming soon, yuk. My latest form of exercise is bending over and picking up all the fallen branches each morning. Good for getting rid of my 'muffin top', right? And also dancing around occasionally while watching a good show on tv. (Besides the yard work, that is, and walking Bandido).
" Debra Waterhouse, a registered dietitian and the author of the 1999 book "Why Women Need Chocolate," thinks both culture and chemicals come into play. Chemicals in chocolate affect levels of the body's mood-affecting chemicals, including serotonin, endorphins and phenylethylamine, which the body releases in response to romance, Waterhouse says.
A comprehensive review of chocolate research, published in the October 1999 Journal of the American Dietetic Association, came to the same conclusion. Two nutritionists at the University of Arizona in Tucson examined almost 75 research papers published over the past two decades on the craving for chocolate -- and decided emotions, social values, sensory qualities, chemicals and the hormonal cycles of women all play a role. "It's the whole package," says co-author and nutrition professor Doug Taren, Ph.D.
Of course, the swirl of clinical opinions matters little when it comes to pleasing your sweetheart. "The bottom line is that chocolate does make women feel good," Waterhouse says. "If the message -- loud and clear -- is chocolate, trust your body, let go of the guilt."
Sounds good to me!!
The first page says, "men are 4 times more likely to feel good when they deny their food cravings and 2 times more likely to follow a very low fat and sugar diet and 5 times more likely to 'dislike' chocolate." I suspected that.
And "women are 2 times more likely to feel good when they fulfill their food cravings, and 2 times more likely to binge on their craved foods, and 2 times more likely to feel fatigued and depressed and 22 times more likely to eat chocolate to feel better." I knew that!
And it is nice to know I live in a safe place just as I thought I did, though they were supposed to get permission to trespass. I guess the loggers do so much work in here they get to feeling free to do what they know they can without asking anyone.
Of course, there was the loggers I made clean up their mess. Could this be a revenge steal? The lady security guard said she thought that would be too obvious. A real mystery in my own back yard which can probably never be solved. I hate days like this.
Cookies are a really good thing in this life. As a child I had lots of cookies. My Mom was a great cookie maker. It was always fun to come home from school and find fresh baked cookies. One of my favorites was a raisin filled cookie. She would roll the dough out and cut large circles with a glass and then put a scrumptious raisin filling on one circle and top with another and then bake. They were wonderful. I probably only made them once in my life--too time consuming. My children got raisin oatmeal drop cookies which were flattened with a glass covered in sugar, but still a great cookie.
But about 20 years ago or whenever Deer Valley Ski Resort opened I was there with my husband. We didn't always ski there as you had to make a reservation and it was very expensive. However, they had the best food buffet of any of the ski resorts and my husband loved to eat lunch there--just he and I, while everyone else was skiing.
It was there I discovered the large sugar cookie with soft raisins in it. I loved it. Reminiscent of childhood--maybe. But I started a crusade to figure out the recipe for that cookie. And I finally did. Kids of today would prefer chocolate chips in it but I love the raisins. I seldom make cookies anymore. I have no one to feed them, too. And besides even the children of today don't eat the goodies the way we did when we were young and running all the calories off instead of sitting at computers.
Anyway Tuesday I made a batch of that perfect raisin cookie and I have so enjoyed sitting down and dunking my cookie in milk (soy milk, but still good). There is something about the texture of a well made cookie with just the perfect crunch and chew that is very, very satisfying. It can keep you happy for a long, long time. Not every cookie has it and we all discover our favorite. I had my favorite packaged cookies, too, but I never buy them now. Too dangerous. I would eat the whole package in one sitting! So here's to the cookie, long may it live and may the search never end for the perfect cookie.
