Got to spend a wonderful, quiet evening with my sweetheart. Not very often does that happen. Between work schedules, pagers, and just every day life, we don't get to spend as much time together as we would like. We even had time to watch a video. Amazing. No phone calls or anything.

I took a cute little spill at work on Thursday (probably scored a 10). Banged up both knees and a few muscles through the arms and shoulders. Nothing serious, nothing broken, just SORE!!!! I have nice purple marks and some swelling. Next time I will be more careful.

The Woodruff's (missionary couple) went home yesterday. It was sad to see them packing to leave. We brought home a couple of things to remember them. They also gave us a beautiful picture of his great-grandfather Wilford Woodruff. What a special memory they have left with us.

WOW.

After posting early this morning, things seemed to take a really sour turn.
First thing this morning I am on scene of a 2 vehicle crash. We are told enroute that there were 2 infants involved. OK. Really gets the old heart pumping. Had a game plan. No infants. 7 and 10 years of age. Transport them and the mother to the hospital. One with some pretty serious injuries. Mother and 7 year old released, 10 year old life-flighted to Columbus Children's Hospital. Unclear as to why. WOW. Didn't see that coming. Second call to Coal mine. Injured foot. No big deal, really. Third call, Cardiac Arrest. I couldn't find my car keys (never happens) so I ran up to the trailer court to the patient. Had to do CPR for several minutes before squad arrived. WOW again. Didn't realize who the patient was until after we got to the hospital. He was my age. DOUBLE WOW! He didn't make it.

Sure need a few minutes to try and take the day in. I hate dealing with kids who are trauma patients. They crash instantly, with no warning signs. I really hate running a cardiac arrest code on someone my own age. None of us are free from life (or death). We don't know when it may be our time. We were told that he had no medical problems (but that seems unlikely). Maybe I will start using the gym to walk again. A little more exercise never hurt anyone.

Still trying to catch my own breath (found keys) and to settle my nerves down. Not a good type of call anytime, but especially at bedtime. Too much to think about instead of sleeping.

OK, enough venting. We did our best but our best just wasn't good enough tonight. We will work harder the next time.

Enjoy life. Our time on this earth is precious and short. Enjoy your families and friends. Let them know that they are special and important to you.

The missionary fireside on Saturday evening was a huge success. The Woodruff's are going home from their mission this week and wanted to show "How Rare a Possession". Her father was mission president when the young priest was baptized. How neat. They had letters that had been written to him, at the time.

We have snow again. I think it is beautiful, but others are complaining that spring needs to come. I am excited for spring, also. I can't wait to get the potatoes and peas planted in a couple of weeks. The garden will not need to be as large this year, but it will still have plenty of goodies come summer.

Our RS enrichment meeting last night was all about keeping that spark in your relationship. Patty Wylie (fabulous person) taught the class. It was great. It really made you stop and think about the things we do or don't do for our spouses.

I have been richly blessed to have the most wonderful husband on the face of the earth. He puts up with me. That says it all right there. He is romantic, sweet, funny, attentive, righteous, caring, soft-hearted, big hearted, helpful, handsome, and all of those other things that makes him so special. I love being able to spend time with him, not always as often as we would like with shift work, but it happens.

Well, the auction was COLD!!! It was snowing and of course it was outside. I bought a couple of things, but not what I was after. I left at 3:00 pm and they still had not gotten to what I was really there for, and probably didn't for another 2 hours. I decided I didn't really need another butter churn or juicer that bad and really preferred to be warm.

I watched McKayla Saturday evening while the kids went to PBR (pro bull riders). Since Brian used to be a bull rider and Sarah and John bothed worked at the local rodeo, it only seemed right that they be there for the event. We had a good time without the parents. She learned to play Yahtzee. I think she was a little overloaded on sugar though. She told me that her mouth was running faster than her feet could. She was right.

In Sunday school yesterday we were talking about faith. Something that we talked about really stuck with me and made me do some thinking. Someone brought up the idea that faith is harder to recognize when things are going good for us. When we are in the middle of that huge trial or problem, it is easy for us to be on our knees asking for help. We ask more often, we ask louder, we ask with greater sincerity. When things are going good and smooth, it is easy to say "OK Lord, I can handle this". It doesn't take as much faith on our part when it seems there are no trials before us. Honestly, I think that this is true. Think about it. The next time things are good in your life, remember to exercise your faith.

Happy Valentine's Day to all.

Well, the traditional Red Velvet Cake for John has been finished. I have been making him this cake for Valentine's Day for more years that I can remember. It is the only time of year that I make it. Cute little tradition that he seems to love. You all know he loves sweets.

We had a huge wind storm a couple of nights ago. It was really bad. A lot of homes lost portions of their siding as well as their shingles. We were lucky. Everything stayed put here at the house, the fire station was another story. Several places have lost shingles. Hopefully we can get it fixed before wet weather comes again.

The ice is gone, now we are getting rain. It is a dreary day out this morning. One of those that is just perfect for curling up with a good book. Luckily I have one. The bathroom is clean, the dishes are done, the sweeper has been run and clothes are put away. Maybe I will sneak just a few minutes on the book.

I am looking forward to an Amish auction this weekend. It is down on St 148 where they have the produce auctions in the summer. They have some furniture, which I don't really need, but love to see what they have. They also have old butter churns. Now, some of you know that I got a butter churn for Christmas, which I love, but I want an old wooden one. I can't wait to see what they have. Hopefully they will also have some canning equipment.

Time for the book before John gets home.

This has truly been along week.

The mother of a friend of mine passed away on Thursday. I had transported her to the hospital just a day earlier. There were really no signs of something so serious. I visited with the friend at the funeral home yesterday to express my sympathy. Her mother looked so at peace. My friend expressed great happiness at knowing that her mother had been 'saved'. How I wish there would have been more I could have done, but under the circumstances, there just wasn't.

I got a call from Janet yesterday afternoon. A gentleman that had driven for the garage was not expected to make it through the weekend. We planned on going to see him this morning. . . he didn't make it through the night. I just knew we would be too late. How sad. He was a special person.

How glad I am that I know what I know. How grateful I am that I know these people are in a much better place.

Well, today should be the day for John's stitches to come out. That is if "Nurse Sarah" says they are ready. We shall see. The knee is looking great, but he still has that nasty rash from the leopard wood. Hopefully it clears up soon.

Another work day finished. I'm glad to be home where it is warm and toasty. Dinner is over, dishes are waiting for me to finish another good book. I love Tracey Peterson books. I am ready another series about the early Alaskan settlers. Unfortunately, sometimes the reading comes before other things that I need to finish.

All week I have gotten out my Sunday School manual, thinking I needed to work on my lesson, only to remember that someone else has the opportunity to grow. I truly am going to miss being the "discussion leader" as I termed it. I never actually felt like the teacher, I was there to lead the discussion and draw everyone else into the conversation.

It was really cold out again today, but the sun was shining. The weather is supposed to improve over the next few days. The high temperature this weekend will be in the 50's. At least this will get rid of the ice that seems to be lingering.

What a pretty day out. The sun is shining and we had just a dusting of snow, so everything just glistens.

The missionaries are all here for their weekly meeting with John. He is the new mission leader at our Ward. He seems to be enjoying this calling. Meetings are kind of scattered around because of his work schedule, but they are at least happening. I have cooked tons of soup and bread and desserts. Sure hope they are hungry.

We took all the family to see the "Harlem Globetrotter's" last night. What fun. McKayla really laughed hard, but so did all of us. It was a fun night to spend together. We only wish that Brian didn't have to work, we sure missed him being there. It isn't often that we actually are all able to get together, so we take advantage when we can.

The sun is shining today and the ice and snow are melting. It is snowed quite a bit this past week. It really was very pretty. The snow on top of the ice would just glisten when the sun was out. Very pretty, but not so nice for getting about. There is supposed to be more snow coming this week. We could have another pretty good storm, depending on how it decided to move across the area. I would love to have more snow, but the ice isn't necessary.

My dear lovable husband seems to have a knack for enjoying visits to the local emergency rooms. It has been a few months and apparently he was missing this nice little PA that usually fixes him up, so we made a trip in there last evening. He was making a splice at work and put his utility knife into the muscle above his knee. It went in as far as the blade could go. He had to bandage himself up (closest EMT in mine), and then went back to work. He had a very saturated dressing when he finally got home. I took him to the ER and the Dr. gave him a couple of stitches. It is in an area, that unfortunately, every time he bends his leg, would have pulled open. He was sore and stiff last night but seemed pretty good this morning, considering. Got a nice tetanus shot, and was already on a round of antibiotics. Sarah gets to take the stitches out in a week. She can't wait.

Today was the last day for teaching my Gospel Doctrine Sunday School Class. When I was called 3 years ago, I was told I would teach all four of the standard works. Well, I didn't quite make it. This was the one calling that I used to always dread I would get. I never felt that I was smart enough to handle that class. Now, I am sorry that I am finished. I really did enjoy it. I learned so much more that any of the other students in the class. I will miss it, but still have plenty to do with my other two callings.

I am working on a Ward Preparedness Plan. If anyone has any tried and tested experiences I would love to hear about them.