My Theory

I have a lot of theories. This is just one of them.

You have heard, I suppose, of hot flashes, right? The ones that come with aging and women. Ugh, I know, I know. If you haven't been there yet, then you probably WILL be one day. Maybe. I guess there's ways to avoid it, but not in my case ("having all my parts," as my sister would say).

So, here's my dilemma. WHY? What is the purpose of these silly things?


Is there a reason? I really wondered about it. I'm very curious. I even asked my Dr. son. He didn't know. So here's my theory:

In the beginning days when we all lived in caves, Woman needed to keep warm when the man forgot to wake up and put another log on the fire. Thus, she had a hot flash to keep her cozy until the heat was increased.

Later, Woman lived in chilly castles or damp cottages on the moors. Another place that a hot flash would be a very welcome respite from the biting cold. [or your ancestors might have been from Russia, Scandinavia, etc. Same thing)

Women lived shorter lives in earlier days. We ALL died young(er). Maybe the hot flashes were some sort of a preservation thing -- like boiling blood, you know? Did it help kill germs and vermin?

Now to present days: 50 + years is WAAAAY too old to have a baby, so hot flashes serve to shove the men out of bed and out of reach and out of any possibility to participate. 40-ish is old, but doable. 50's? Forget it .. . . and don't remind me of those record-holders out there. I know there are exceptions. This is just my THEORY, remember?

My other theory has to do with limberness of joints and wardrobes. Yes, wardrobes. One has to dress very carefully and in multiple layers in order to shed the unnecessary ones quickly. And then put them back on again after the flash passes. And then take them off. If you're just talking about a sweater, think about all the exercises those shoulders are getting! Just think of how much better off our Relief Society Arms are going to look! Sweater on! Sweater OFF!! Sweater On! Sweater OFF!!

Well, I'm going to go put some socks on. That has nothing to do with anything above. My feet are just cold. It IS January, you know!!

Back in April, 2010...

Yes, clear back in April (I found these pictures on my camera just recently), Mike and I traveled to Vernal for the blessing of this cute little baby girl (above). I believe she is a Great-Grand-Niece. (Wow) Baby and family came from Arizona to be with all the family Conference/Easter Weekend.
Mike's sister Jannae and brother-in-law, Joe (below) were the great-grandparents and the host of this nice big family gathering.

Josh and Karlee were our hosts and we stayed in their cute little home. Joe and Jannae's family continues to grow, because now Josh and Karlee have a new baby!

Andrew and Christine also had a new baby recently.
Mike with two nephews. Stacey, on left, has a couple of new grandbabies now. Gary's family is enjoying a nice status quo right now. ;-)
Tara and her oldest and youngest children.
Joe and Jannae have 5 children and I don't even know how many grand and great grand children. Here's some more. The couple on the right, Logan and Lindy, also have a new one now.
Here's Mike's mom with the newly-adopted Marissa. She's so cute!
Mike likes to sit on his relatives, apparently. Stacey and Monica.
Smile! John is a photographer. Between General Conference sessions they gathered in the Relief Society room for a baby blessing, then a luncheon in the cultural hall. It was just family and it was a BIG crowd!


Here is Massiel with baby, Massiel's husband Andre, and Massiel's mom, Lesa and stepdad, John.
We're so glad we were able to spend some time with this fine family! Lesa and John came all the way from Florida and I believe ALL their children were there and a good percentage of all the cousins, aunts and uncles. Fun times.

MLK Sunday with the kids

Yep, we have much rowdiness when Grandpa gets going with the Grandkids. But we ALL have a lot of fun. Especially Ella

Elder Liebhardt Photos

I figured I should give folks an update on our missionary in the Washington DC North Mission. He attached a few photos last week when he wrote, so here is a glimpse of some of his work.
First, The Festival of Lights! Eric absolutely LOVES having the Temple in his mission, LOVES the Festival of Lights. We really missed him this year because he wasn't here to hang our outdoor Christmas lights. I hope after being there and seeing what they've done in DC that he'll be inspired and make our home and trees look a little more festive next year.The crew at the Woffinden's on Thanksgiving. Elders Tolman, Aru, Peterson, Mezerai, Carver, Searle, Shigata.

A favorite missionary couple. Brother and Sister Woffinden with Eric at Thanksgiving.

Virgin River, Nevada Dec. 2010

Usually when you drive through Mesquite, NV on I-15, you can barely tell that there is any sort of river down there. This is the view that Mike and I saw on our drive back to Cedar City from Damian and Tandy's in December. It was quite the flood.
Above is looking east toward Mesquite and Bunkerville (Just south of Mesquite proper). The mountains are shrouded in clouds and the rain just kept coming. It was earlier this day that homes just north of here in Beaver Dam, AZ, were washed away. That might have explained why I saw a large track hoe working at the river's edge just north of Mesquite. It might have been pulling out pieces of homes that were floating by.

Below is in St. George as we passed over the bridge. The bridge just barely cleared the water. Usually it's just a very small stream. (They call it a river here, but really? Compared to the Red River and the Mississippi? Just a stream)
The photo below was taken in the Virgin River Gorge.

Another view in the gorge is above. Below is another shot going through Mesquite. They aren't in order (of course!), but at least you can get an idea of the massive amount of water that was moving through that place. It was amazing to see that much water in our desert. It didn't stop raining until we got to Cedar City, and it had been raining there for three days, too!

The Non-Shopper's Shopping Trip

Anybody who knows me might know that I don't like shopping. However, if I HAVE to, I can. Ugh. Also, if I need something, I'll do it. Double Ugh.

I decided I needed a dress coat. I've been wearing a parka to school and to Church (and to Music Arts, Concerts, etc.) for years. I have an ancient long quilted garage-sale special that I got right after moving here from Hawaii. It's great for walking to work in the snow or when you have to be out and it's bitter cold. But wearing a parka to church was kind of wearing on me. I wanted a dressier coat. So I went shopping. Gag me. Bealls has some good deals, so I checked them out and I even made Gail come with me. It helps to make the shopping a little more tolerable. And it actually helps quite a bit. She's got good taste. I did find a nice blouse (which I am NOT wearing in the picture), but I passed on the coats. I really liked one, but it had no pockets! I HAVE to have pockets. But I really liked it. I was waffling.

I looked at Penny's when we were in St. George on Friday. Good prices, but not exactly what I wanted. If they were two to three inches longer, I might have bought one. Maybe.

A few days later, I looked at Christensen's. They didn't have a big choice.

A day later, I got a coupon on the mail from Bealls, for $10 off. Then I got to thinking, "Hey, I can sew! If the price is right and I really like that coat, I should just get it and then I can put in my OWN pockets!" Duh. They had fake ones, I thought. Well, I went there after work with Mike and tried it on again today, and guess what? The pockets were NOT fake--they were real! Yay. So they rang it up for me. It rang up for less than what was on the price tag, then my coupon took even MORE off the price so I ended up with a $168 wool-blend coat for under $55. I thought it was a great deal. So much so that I let Mike take a picture of me in it. Boring blah black, but I like it. And it has pockets. :-)

When a non-shopper has a positive shopping experience, she simply MUST share! (Did I mention it had pockets?)