Day family newsletter - March 2011

April 1, 2011
DAY FAMILY NEWS – MARCH 2011
Our cat, now 6 months old, continues to solidify its place in our household. In actuality, it wears the pants in the family now. It lays on the newspaper while we read it, has us leaving faucets dripping for it, takes over the bed at night, and when we lock it out of the bathroom, it lies on its back and puts its paws under the door to let us know he’s there. Even though he’s “snipped”, he still is quite aggressive and bites me on the arms on a regular basis. With Linda, however, he mostly just lies on her lap quite passively. The grandkids love him, I think even more than grandma and grandpa.
Part of our backyard fence blew over in a strong wind storm in February, and I am looking forward to getting it repaired as soon as the ground dries out a little. The snow is gone today, but there is more coming on Sunday.
The legislative session is over, and the governor is in the middle of signing hundreds on new bills into law, but he did veto the bill to put state employees back on a 5 day work schedule, thank goodness. Like all states, Utah is hurting because of the downturn of the economy, but in our legislature’s wisdom, they are closing 6 or 7 liquor stores that bring in 1 to 2 million profit each. This to save costs they say. If business were to follow their lead, I guess every business that was profitable would close to trim costs????
Our grandson, Cole, who is a master mechanic, offered to fix my truck’s oil leak which saved me hundreds of dollars. This is the second time he has helped me out, and I sure appreciate him. Wiggin’s father died of cancer this past month, and Jackie and Wiggins and Wiggin’s kids all went to Blanding for the funeral. Wiggin’s father had originally come to the hospital in Payson to have his shoulder operated on, and it was only after being there for a week that they discovered the cancer. He died a month later.
I broke down and joined facebook last month in order to stay in touch with the rest of the world. It seemed that I was missing out on things, relying just on email. Jessica also joined facebook, and it’s fun to communicate with her. I went to Orem to put up a diabetes chart on Danny’s kitchen wall to help him identify when a blood sugar reading was good or bad. Danny says it has helped him a lot, and doesn’t get as worried anymore. Karin agreed to have Danny come down later this month for about 6 days, and Danny is excited to visit the Rheads in Mesa. We enjoyed going to Jack’s (Katie and Bill) 2nd birthday party. Katie hired a lady to come in and she brought a turtle, a parrot, a frog, an iguana, and a 25 lb. rabbit for kids to see and learn about. It was fun for the kids and adults! Stephanie got a new job, still with the State of Utah, but at the department of health working with nutrition for kids. She gets off work a half hour earlier, which helps quite a bit with picking up the kids from day care in time.
Linda watched Kaylee while Debbie and I went on a daddy/daughter date to see a play at the U of U. We saw The Diary of Anne Frank. Loved it –very moving. Linda and I had breakfast one morning with Bruce Baird – he is doing well since his wife, Jackie, died 1 ½ years ago, has retired for the second time, and is enjoying life and keeping busy. Stephanie took some of her tax return and took a 4 day 3 night trip to Disneyland with Jessica. Linda and I watched Sarah and Taylor while they were gone. Steph and Jessica said they had a great trip, and stayed at a hotel right on the ocean. Steph decided to take Jessica this year, and she’ll take the other two next year.
Debbie called that same weekend and suggested we go to the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork at the Hindu Temple, a yearly celebration of spring and fundraiser. It was quite an experience, as everyone buys bags of powdered chalk in different colors, and every two hours, everybody gathers together and throws the chalk up in the air. The result is very colorful, and you also get colored, sort of like getting your whole body tie dyed. Linda and I kept in the rear area so we didn’t get the full effect, but now my shoelaces on my new sneakers are pink. While there, I went into the temple, and talked to a Hari Krishna (sp?) man who tried to explain the Hindu Gods on display. This man was foreign, and about the only word I understood was reincarnation. So I’ve done my temple work for this year.
I’ve read The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, and am now reading the complete idiots guide to American history. Linda is reading a Grisham book. We’re both looking forward to watching the 3rd season of True Blood that comes out at the end of next month. Stephanie came up for St. Patrick’s Day dinner and we enjoyed the yearly corn beef and cabbage meal that Linda fixed.
And that’s the news from the Days. Love, Tom & Linda, & Pumpkin the cat.