A penny for my thoughts...........

Children, you remember the penny drawer! It's the little half drawer in the chest of drawers where I kept, um, fine jewelry, thread, and pennies, and it hasn't changed a bit in 30 years... see? I JUST NOW TOOK A PHOTO WITHOUT MOVING OR CHANGING A THING AND THERE"S STILL THREAD IN IT, and you can see pennies in there too (under the photo of Angie and Forrest holding new baby Ethan); also Andrew's #40 football pin from about 30 years ago; and above it on the shelf, the framed photo of me and my beloved; my prized collection of Anne Tyler novels; a jar of polished rocks (look closely - I've also turned that into a jewelry/bracelet repository). My point in starting out like this is to say this will be a jumbled post with a few tangled musings! But that was kind of a fun photo. 

#1: I AM IN POIGNANT HOG HEAVEN:

I am in hog heaven watching poignant documentaries on Netflix . The other night I fell asleep watching one called "Young @ Heart" about senior citizens who have a fabulous singing group and tour the world. And now Netflix has generously recommended 25 MORE gems to me about aging performers simply because I watched the first movie. These are movies that are so unknown and obscure that I would have had to trek to Park City and fight the Sundance crowd in sub-zero Minnesota-like temperatures if I wanted to watch them in years gone by. AND I can also watch Netflix on our new ipad..... Really? All this for Netflix's monthly charge of $8.99/month? I'll never forget Angie introducing me to Netflix when we were in Minnesota for Thanksgiving, and we watched a tad of "Babies" and then Andrew being here to help us get it hooked up, and we hooked it up to the little t.v. in the basement and Andrew and I lay on the floor and watched "Over the Top" about the world of arm-wrestling!! I keep waiting for a bill from Netflix to arrive in the mail marked "Important, open immediately" that says "To Barbara and Dennis Sweat: Please be advised that this has all been a ruse, and if you would have read the small print more carefully you would have realized that it really costs $800/month and you now owe us $8,000. You should have known better. Did you REALLY think you could get 1,000's of movies for almost nothing?" And part of me would think, "no foolin! I was wondering when the other shoe would drop!" WHAT A WORLD!!

#2 - RANQUIST/SWEAT CHRISTMAS PARTY!

This year we held it down in Mapleton at Karla and Richard's church - the day Tony and Cindy were MOVING - but fortunately, they were moving into a house that was only 10 minutes away from the church, but still, bless their hearts for coming to the party in the midst of it all. Whenever I make shrimp soup I think of how much Angie loves it and get nostalgic for the original Ranquist Christmas party. It was so exciting to go to their beautiful condo,high above the Eagle Gate in downtown Salt Lake City, and park in the lot across the street to the North and then get into the elevator that took us up to their home - and know that President Hinckley and President Faust lived right above them and they might even drop by unannounced! And have catered food, with ribbon sandwiches that I don't think anyone liked but me, and see the $100 bills tucked into the Christmas tree for each couple. And have the talent show (and bless Angie's heart for singing solos for Grandma Ranquist even after Dolores and her 6 teen-aged sons joined the family!).

Speaking of Grandma Ranquist, I almost felt like she was with us a couple of times when I'd glance over at Karla out of the corner of my eye! In the photo below, Karla is holding Abby's little boy Hunter, and Jessica Ranquist whose married name escapes me, what is it?... I'll think of it...anyway, Jessica is holding her 3-month-old baby Grant. He and Hunter are only 9 days apart. Her last name means something besides just being a last name........but still not coming to me....

Jessica and Tyler - Walker! That's their last name! The Walkers! I knew it was appropriate for them because they're not only are they Walkers, they're Dancers! Anyway, Jessica and Tyler "tried" to teach us the polka for our entertainment! Amy and Dave, we needed you there to add to the dancing!! It was a little too comprehensive for us, but everyone had fun moving their bodies, and even Nate caught the vision (even if he is partner-less in this first photo below!). We had a baked potato bar and chili and salads and desserts. YUM!  The bottom photos are of Calvin and Vivi on their way to the party. It was lights out the minute Dennis picked them up from Grandma and Grandpa Bohman's house where they'd stayed over night because of the move. When Calvin woke up in our car, he looked around at us, and was so confused. He kept saying "what?" He had gone to bed at the cabin one night, in his new house the next night, grandma Bohman's the next night, and now he was in grandma and grandpa Sweat's car!

And here is Megan's little girl Avery who wasn't going to smile for me, but then she changed her mind. Cute!

#3 - AND I SAY TO MYSELF, WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD!

Here's how pretty it was yesterday when I went out first thing in the morning to get the Sunday paper. It's so gorgeous to see the Wasatch mountains and the blue skies when the smog leaves after a week of the dreaded inversion. If only they could punch a couple of holes in those mountains so the bad air could escape!!

#4 CHRISTMAS IS DOWN - AND VALENTINES DAY IS UP!

I was going to post more, but......................................yikes! the time is getting away from me (blogging takes longer than I thought it would!). I am so grateful for all the years of scrumptious blog posts and emails from you kids. It means more than money can buy!!

The reason I must be done for tonight....is because........it's Downton Abbey Season 4 time! It is set to start in 10 minutes.And Dennis, who I converted to it last year forGOT it was on tonight, after I reminded him this morning! I asked him how he could possibly forget? I asked him if he would forget, say,  Jazz game #37 of 82, the Jazz vs. the pesky Minnesota Timberwolves? and he said "OF COURSE NOT!" However, he brewed us up some hot chocolate, and is now downstairs turning on the big screen. Watching "Downton Abbey" on Sunday nights will not be quite as poignant this year as it has been for the last two years, because I'm not Stake RS President and I don't have grueling Sundays that I need to unwind from. And there's nothing that makes me unwind better than hearing the pulsing Downton Abbey theme song and watching the backside of that portly yellow lab sway in rhythm as he heads toward the mansion. Love you all - cheers!

XO

Mom