President's day

It is a holiday and I am at home. With Robb working and the children gone, it is me and Simon that are here to keep each other company. Sometimes I wish Robb could have the same holidays as I do - then we could do something together. I have not gone outside today. I probably should have taken Simon for a walk but I did not. We have just been lazy.

Tomorrow I go back to work at the Commission. The plans for the elimination of the Human Rights Commission have been changed. The Idaho Department of Labor will have the Commission come under its umbrella agency and keep the Commission funded henceforth. The Commissioners have agreed with the plan, the two agencies are on board, and the governor is agreeable. The only hurdle left is to have the legislature agree to the merger. If all parties agree, we will be the employees for the Department of Labor. It all sounds exciting and I am glad that I will be able to continue working for years to come. There is hope in the future. I really enjoy mediation and so am glad I will get to continue that for a few more years.

This last month, I had my birthday. I am now 57 years old. I do not know how Mom Heaton started again with Irene and me at this age. She had a lot of gumption!!! I sure am thankful she did because I have been blessed tremendously by her decisions. For my birthday, I got a massage chair from Robb and the kids. I love it and I use it each day when I come home from work. I have to be careful though because I fall asleep and could sleep for hours. My muscles are relaxed and the heat feels good. I also got a DVD set for 24. Robb really likes this show and now he has me hooked on it. We have watched season six, season one and now season two. I just picked up season three and we are starting that. Lots of watching but it is all without commercials. I also got a "Snuggie" which I use to cover the massage chair unless I get chilly. Simon has his own Snuggie - - thanks to Tonie, we both have matching snuggies. How funny!!

Better go.

Funky Mama

Funky Mama died this month. She was between about 16-17 years old. Cynthia brought her home from the farm when Funky was just a kitten. Over the years, Funky had kittens and then was spayed so she would not have any more kittens. She lived a long happy life, we think. Always had food and a nice warm place to sleep. Throughout her life, she was teased tremendously by Tonie's two kittens, Roman and Bernice. Eventually we had to let the kittens go because of the allergic reactions to their presence. WE simply could not let Funky go because she was getting older so we kept her. Then Cynthia got married and her husband is allergic to cats. We had to cover the couches, make sure Cyn's bedroom was as clean as possible, and generally take steps to lessen the allergic reaction for Kyle. We even thought of putting them up in a hotel because we felt so bad for him. BUT, we kept Funky because she was getting old. WE also kept Kyle, too. :)

In the recent years, Funky has gone through several dogs. First there was Peanuts, cockapoo, who really got along with her. Peanuts knew not to tease her or chase her. Then came Buster, miniature schnauzer, who had a difficult time controlling himself at first and tried to chase her. Buster did eventually learn that he could chase every cat he saw BUT Funky. Then came Vinny, Robbie's miniature pincher. Vinny never did learn that he should not chase funky but Vinny was smaller than Funky and did not dare push his luck too much. Then came Simon, our Yorkshire Terrier, who tried to sneak in a chase while we were not looking. Simon and Funky just tolerated each other, Simon giving her a wide berth. Then came Mikey, miniature pincher and Vinny's younger brother. Mikey has tried to play with Funky on many occasions and we are thankful that Funky was declawed. Otherwise, Mikey would have had ribbons for ears. Despite all the dogs she had to deal with, Funky ruled the house. She even took over Simon's bed. Towards the end, she became much more comfortable in being petted by Robb and Me. She would eat from Robb's fingertips, and purr really loud when Robb held her. We did not know what was wrong although I kept watch on her food dish which was not emptying. Funky generally came and got us to show her the food dish and to have us watch her eat. She did not do that and we wondered where she was. It was way too quiet and she had not come to get us. We found her asleep in the front room. She kept quiet. Then when we got home after work, Robb saw her lose her balance as she tried to walk into the bedroom. We all panicked and picked her up. We watched her but it did not look good. Of course we had to let everyone in the family know. The next day I missed work so I could try to get her to eat but she would not. That night, she passed away sometime between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. when Robb saw her and told me that she had passed. I often wonder if there is a heaven for animals and whether they are part of our lives after this life. I guess we will have to see. Now we have Simon at home. I wonder if he misses Funky or even wonders what happened to the cat that lived in the house and used his bed.

What a way to start of the New Year

The governor for the State of Idaho gave his address and presented his budget for the next fiscal year. Not good news. He has recommended that the Idaho Human Rights Commission be phased out over the next three years with a 25% reduction in funding each year. If the Commission can generate funds on its own without relying on the general budget, then it can exist. But, if it cannot, which it cannot, it will have to close its offices unless another plan comes into play that will keep the Commission going. I never thought I would see the day!!! Essentially, the Commission has been given a life span of three more years. Unfortunately for me, this is one year short of early retirement. I don't know what will happen but I will hang on for the long haul.

On to other things, I do have blessings in my life. First, I have a job for the time being. I have my kids and my husband for whom I am very thankful. I have Jackson who is adding joy to our family with each new day. We have a home and cars, albeit old ones, to drive us back and forth. We have food on our shelves and heat for our home. I have been blessed when many are seeking these basic things in their lives. The economy is so bad that unemployment has sky rocketed - - people have lost their homes, families, and all sorts of disruption has occurred. For Robb and I, we are very thankful to have what we do have.

Somehow this begins to sound like the Book of Mormon over again. The turmoil in the world is great with wars going one in various places. Our nephew, Kendall, is now serving in Afghanistan, a hot bed of warfare. We hope he remains safe and will return home safely when his turn is over. He is with the Marines. News reports come every day of some fatality that has occurred. We keep our fingers crossed and pray he returns safely.

The war on terror is still raging on. The latest incident was when a person attempted to blow up a flight coming into Detroit. The incident was stopped and everyone was safe but this man got past airport security. We never know when our turn will come, whether we will fall on the way to work, in our homes, or in a public place. I guess the lesson is to prepare and always be prepared to meet Heavenly Father at any point in our life. We have to remain vigilant in all that we do.

Robb has started tax season again and he is gone long hours. I spend evenings by myself and keeping myself busy writing posts and other things. It is difficult to prepare meals when Robb works so late. Often times he comes home and eats very little and goes directly to bed. Well, so much for the "wonderful" outlook on my work and life.

It is now December

Since the last blog, I have had a new grandson, Jackson Kyle Brown born on October 26, 2009 in Orem, UT. Cyndie and Kyle's first. They had one hour notice before going in for a C-section because Cyn had preeclampsia. What a scare. I raced down to Orem and stayed with her for one week. Most of the time was spent in the hospital and I was not much help other than to provide moral support for Cyn. Poor Baby, she had a rough go of it for the first time around. Jackson is beautiful. He looks a lot like Kyle, blond hair and blue eyes but we don't know if he will change color as time goes on. He is such a sweetie.



We all went to Tonie's for Thanksgiving. Robbie and Tracy came with "the boys", aka Vinney and Mikey. Simon also came with us. They enjoyed the trip more than being kenneled in Boise, I think. They all rode well. We had dinner at Tonie's and then played the rest of the week-end. On Saturday, we went to Park City because I had never been to Park City. It seems silly since I grew up visiting SLC all the time. I just never went up the Canyons unless it was to visit Aunt Claire at her cabin. I do not remember which Canyon her cabin was in. I do remember that she taught me how to play rummy. OOOOH, playing cards were "bad" in our home but Aunt Claire played them.

We watched the BYU v. Utah game with Tonie. She was the only Ute fan and BYU WON!!! I did not appreciate the words spoken by Hall, BYU's quarterback. I also did not like the fact that he got into a couple of scuffles. Oh well, he needs to control his emotions better I think. In any event, it was really fun to watch. an EXCITING FOOTBALL GAME. Right after the game, Robb, Simon and I packed up and left for Boise. Robbie and Tracy and the boys left before us. it is nice to have cell phones as we kept in contact all the way home. Robbie, going ahead of us, warned us of the fog and other road conditions, such as "Smokies" out on the road. Robbie was not speeding so he did not get pulled over - - we count our lucky stars for that. We all got home after midnight.

Now it is "Championship Saturday" for NCAA football. BSU is playing New Mexico State and it should be a win for Boise State. Then BSU will find out if it is invited to play in a BCS bowl or what happens next with the football program. I will have to find out what happens with BYU's bowl games also. I don't know if Utah will get invited but of course we would cheer for them if they get to play. lots of games are being played today. I guess you can tell that I like football. I like it at the NCAA level and the NFL level. BUT, the basketball season is going already and some of the teams are playing. I could be a regular sports couch potato if I did not do anything else.

Oh, Robb has been called as the new Sunday School President for our ward. A new teacher will be called to be the Gospel Doctrine teacher, the calling he has had for about eight years. It will be different. I tease him because he gets to ring the bell to dismiss Sunday School classes. :) I have been asked to substitute for a Relief Society lesson in two weeks but other than that, I continue to work as one of the Humanitarian reps. for our ward.

We got a new bishopric. The old bishopric was Bishop St. John, Dennis Wallace, and Bro. Van Leuven. Now the new bishop is Greg Schley, with counselors, Bro. Van Leuven and Bro. Tobiason. We will see what new changes occur in the ward with the new bishopric. There are always changes.

Well, I better scoot.

WOW, HOW TIME FLIES!!

I noticed that my last post was in June. Since then many things have happened. Buster passed away on July 13 from Lymphoma. We have missed him tremendously as he use to greet us at the door. It is amazing how we get attached to our pets. I look at his sweaters occasionally now and still miss him. July was Robb's birthday, Tonie's birthday and Robbie's birthday. Whew! Then on to August. In August we had our anniversary but we were not able to go to the temple as planned becuase Robb was sick. Oh well, another time we keep saying. We were going to go to Twin Falls and go through the new temple.

In September, on the 4th, Robbie got married to his sweatheart, Tracy. We are so excited and we had a fun time. They got married at the Warm Springs Chapel and Bishop St. John of the Bitteroot Ward did the wedding ceremony. Bishop St. John is our bishop now and has know Robbie since Primary. After the wedding, we all went to Barber Park Pavilion. Irene traveled from Page with her decorating things and made the place look beautiful. Pictures were taken and food was shared. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Now it is the end of SEptember. Cynthia had her birthday and Kyle's birthday is coming up. My visiting teachers, Betty Bufford and Glenna Mavencamp are doing a baby shower for Cynthia on Saturday, October 10, 2009 from 1- 2:30. It will be at the Relief Society room and we will have fun. Cyn and Kyle and Tonie are all coming home for that. After ths shower, we will wait for Baby Brown to arrive.

Tomorrow I am involved in the Idaho Inclusiveness Coalition Symposium. I will be so glad when Friday comes. I will be able to get back to work on my regular work. I have been concentrating on the IIC stuff.

Well, I better get going now. Bye.

Father's Day, 2009

Robb and I had such a wonderful week-end with our children. It was sort of a family reunion for the Robb and Sarah Fisher family. Tonie came from SLC, Kyle and Cyn came from Provo, and Robbie and Tracy joined in the festivities. Tracy got her engagement ring from Robbie and they are set to wed in September. The ring is beautiful.

We went to the golfing range and hit some buckets of balls. We were all sore from that for the next day. We then went to the opening night ball game for the Boise Hawks. The Hawks need a bit of work. They made as many errors as they did runs and lost the ball game. We will attend again on the fourth of July, so we can watch fireworks from the stands, and to see if there has been any improvement. On Sunday we built a fire in our fire circle in the back yard and enjoyed making smores and visiting. We had BBQed ribs for dinner and really enjoyed ourselves.

It is really enjoyable to have the family visiting and having fun together. This is our dream come true. We will have more fun events this summer. Kyle and Cyn are returning to Boise next week end becuase Kyle's grandfather died and his funeral is on Friday. Tonie will be coming home on the fourth of July week-end so we can finish a quilt for her friend Sara. I have had the quilt "in process" for many many years and I think Sara has probably forgotten what t-shirts she gave me to make the quilt. I need to get busy and finish all the promised and planned quilt.

We do have some bad news. Buster, our dog of seven years has been diagnosed with lymphoma that has spread throughout his body. The prognosis is not good. His life is shortened but we will keep him at home until he is in too much pain. We will have him put down at that time. The vet does not think he will last more than one month but he seems to be really spry for such an ominous diagnosis.

Next week-end is the Bernard and Realla Fisher reunion and we have invited Dad Fisher's siblings to come and share family history information with us. It will be nice and we are looking forward to the get together. Our family needs to bring salads to the dinners. I just hope it is not too stormy or hot. We have had both sides of the temperature spectrum thus far this Spring.

We are Blessed.

Fishing Trip to Arrowrock Dam, ID

Well, we went Fishing. See Tracy's arms and Robbie's face. They are so sunburned and Tracy's arms look very painful. Robbie and Tracy took Robb and I fishing at Arrowrock Dam. I have not been fishing. Robbie got me a fishing pole for Mother's day and a fishing trip. We spent hours at the side of the lake and caught a few. I caught one but it was larger than I could hold and it broke my line when it got away. I caught another one, a lake trout. Robbie caught one and released it because it was small. Tracy hit the jackpot. One got away, several nibbles, and three fish. Robb did not get a catch because he had to seek shelter under the tree to get out of the sun. I really enjoyed the fishing but I know that we will take the canopy the next time we go. It was so peaceful to spend time by the lake. Very relaxing and took my mind off work and other concerns while I sat there. I know that Robb and I will go again. In fact, we are going to Lucky Peak for the next trip. That is only 30 minutes away. Arrowrock was way past Lucky Peak where the road changed from asphalt to dirt/gravel. I don't know how far but when you go past asphalt, it suddenly becomes a more remote area. It was very remote, no latrines, water, or anything. You had to bring everything in and take everything out. How I am thankful for bathrooms!!! I want to go to Hell's Canyon to do some fishing. Tracy says they have really good facilities along with shade and good fishing. I think Robb and I have found something we enjoy and will pursue together. I want to go camping and get all excited and then Robb brings me back to reality and says that my kind of camping is a king sized bed in an air conditioned hotel somewhere in the mountains. Yup, he is correct.

Robb made some enchiladas after we returned home from fishing yesterday. He got the recipe from Cynthia. The only problem was that the enchiladas were so spicy hot that I could not eat it. Robb, Robbie and Tracy were able to get them down, but I gave up after 1/2 of one enchilada. Today I telephoned Cynthia. I was going to ask her if she used all the chipotle the recipe calls for in the sauce. Come to find out, she did not use any chipotle and only 1/2 of the green chiles. Then Robbie says that chipotles are grilled jalepenos(?)!! NO wonder they are HOT!!! In other words, she did not follow the recipe but adjusted it so the heat was not so intense. I kinda wished Robb would have known that before hand. The enchiladas smelled really good and looked super. The next time Robb make these, he will reduce the hot spices so I can enjoy them.

This is my Mother's day present. Robb decided I needed a new dress and I found one that I really liked. I went on-line first and found the dress. Then we went to the store and lucky for us, they had one in my size. That was easy shopping. I love the dress. This is in our backyard against the white lilacs. I am being sassy!!

Well, I better go now. talk to you later.