Christmas Lily

Lily's new favorite activity is to climb the Christmas tree. She is too funny. She's small enough that her climbing hasn't toppled the tree--yet. She and Little Spike are about the same size, so they're deciding that they kind of like chasing each other around the house. The dogs like eating the kitty food, and she likes eating the dog food :-)

This afternoon Greg and I went on a Christmas outing with his co-worker Alice and her husband Don. They took us to the little tiny town of Salisbury just outside of Petersburg. We had some delicious pie and hot chocolate at this quaint little cafe that seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere. In the cafe, we saw an advertisement for a new store in Salisbury, so we went to check it out. It was so funny! The store is in a transformed car garage, and they were selling all of these fancy vases, jewelry, and leather jackets that the store owners got in Mexico. I couldn't help but wonder: who in Salisbury would spend $2,000 for a vase?

Then we went to a place called "The Farm." :-) It was a fun little boutique-type store in a big red barn out in the country. They had a lot of Christmas things for sale. Then we went to the cemetery in Petersburg where Anne Rutledge and Edgar Lee Masters are buried. (Anne Rutledge was Abraham Lincoln's first girlfriend, and Edgar Lee Masters was a famous poet who is perhaps most well-known for his Spoon River Anthology.) After the cemetery, we drove around some neighborhoods in Petersburg. Alice and Don took us to this funny little community known as Old Salem, or Chautauqua, which is an "eclectic river community" along the Sangamon River. Eclectic indeed! We kind of felt like we were in the backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains. It was a very fun adventure.

Lunch at Linda's

You've surely heard of "Breakfast at Tiffany's," but what about Lunch at Linda's? I had lunch at Linda's on Wednesday when I went over to her house to pick up her mom's sewing table that I will be refinishing for her. That was so nice of her to feed me! We had a good time, and I got to meet her dogs--including their foster dog, a big Golden Retriever named Ayden. They are serving as a foster family for Ayden until the Animal Protection League finds a home for him. He is a funny big dog. Unfortunately the sewing table did not fit into my car--even with the back seat folded down--so Greg and I had to take the funeral home van back to her house later to pick up the table. I have been working on the table for the last couple of days, and it is looking really cool.

Yesterday Greg and I went to lunch at Athen's one-and-only restaurant. It's called Grant's, and I absolutely loved it. It's your typical small-town diner, but those are my favorite kind of restaurants. I had a tasty Philly sandwich. Athens has two bars (but they don't serve food there), one restaurant, and one ice cream shop. The ice cream shop, called the Town Scoop, was closed and had a for sale sign in the window, but just the other day it mysteriously opened up again. Hmmmm, that's okay with me. We still have yet to go there. Small towns are funny, but I kind of like them.

This afternoon we watched Elder Wirthlin's funeral online. It was a very nice service, and Elder Wirthlin will be greatly missed. I especially liked what his son said about how Elder Wirthlin spent so little time thinking about himself because he spent so much time thinking of others. I want to try to be more like Elder Wirthlin.

"Come What May, and Love It"

I was so sad to hear that cute, wonderful Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin passed away today. I love all of the General Authorities, but I must admit that Elder Wirthlin was my favorite. He has always given my favorite talks, and he was always so cute and funny. It makes me very sad to think that we won't get to hear him speak again, but at least he lived a good, long life, and now he can be with his sweet wife.

Elder Wirthlin's last conference talk, entitled, "Come What May, and Love It," offers a wonderful message of hope and encouragement in the midst of troubling times. Here are some of my favorite quotes from this talk:

"In spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result."

"The way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life."

"If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness."

I especially like that last quote. Of course times of adversity are not happy, but if we handle the adversity with the right attitude, our adversity can lead to great happiness. What a wonderful truth to keep in mind when things get hard! Elder Wirthlin quoted his mother's advice to him after he lost a football game: "Come what may, and love it." Don't be discouraged; don't be disheartened; just keep plugging along and enjoy the journey. I have realized the truth that if you look for things to be happy about, even when times are difficult, you will be happy. I think that is how Elder Wirthlin lived his life. He always seemed happy.

My favorite talk of all time was given by Elder Wirthlin in the October 2001 General Conference. Some of the things he said in his message called, "One Step After Another," seem especially appropriate to remember today. He said: "Our time here is so precious and so short. . . . All too soon our time is finished. While we can--while we have the time to complete our work--let us walk in the right direction, taking one step after another. That is easy enough. We don't have to be perfect today. We don't have to be better than someone else. All we have to do is the very best we can." Elder Wirthlin completed his work--a great work--here on the earth. He will be greatly missed and forever appreciated.

Another bit of sad news is that Sunday was the black day when the state historic sites officially shut down and the employee layoffs were made absolutely official. Springfield is mourning the closure of the Dana-Thomas House, a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece built in 1902. Volunteer workers gave the last tour on Sunday afternoon, and from what I hear, it was a sad occasion and many tears were shed as people walked through the house for the last time. Even USA Today reported about the Illinois travesty. You can see the article by clicking here. Christmas at the Dana-Thomas House has always been a big event around here every December, but the house will be dark this year.

Other than sadness at the passing of Elder Wirthlin and the IHPA troubles, things have been going well here. I am now officially a resident of Athens, Illinois--because today I got a library card! Athens actually has a wonderful public library, which is kind of surprising because it is such a small town. But it gets even better--I am going to be on the Athens Public Library Board! :-) I have never done anything like that anywhere I have lived, so it should be kind of fun.

Little Tiger Lily gets cuter and cuter every day! She is so cuddly and adorable. Her new favorite thing to do is to jump into our clothes hamper in our room, curl up, and go to sleep. She really wants to be friends with the Spikes, but they seem to be quite offended at her cuteness. She's not going to get any less cute though, so the dogs are just going to have to learn to deal with it :-)

It's a Girl!

Today a new little person joined our family! Her name is Tiger Lily, but she goes by Lily. Isn't she adorable???? She is an early Christmas present from Greg who was so nice to take me to the Animal Protection League in Springfield yesterday to choose a kitty to adopt. Tiger Lily was the most friendly of all the kitties, and she has indeed turned out to be a little cuddle muffin. She is curled up on the couch sleeping next to Greg right now, and she had a nap with me this afternoon. She was a little nervous about meeting her new big brothers, Big Spike and Little Spike, and they were also nervous about meeting her, but I think everyone is sort of getting used to each other. The boys like smelling her, and she likes chasing them around. She is thoroughly intrigued with the Christmas tree and also her new pink collar that has a little bell on it. She is three months old and is very sweet. We went kitty shopping today and got her a little pink leopard-pattern kitty carrier and a pink "kitty cube" to play in. We will surely have many good times around here with our three kids.

"Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato Pie . . ."

There is a funny song called "Sweet Potato Pie." I listened to it today while I was driving to Linda's neighbor's house for Thanksgiving dinner--carrying my sweet potato pie. Greg and I had to take two cars to dinner because last night someone died, so Greg had to leave the festivities a little early today to go meet with the family of the deceased man. We had SO MUCH FUN today!!!! The great thing about this world is that no matter where you go, there are nice people. Nice people make things like being away from home for Thanksgiving not seem so bad. It was very nice of Linda to invite Greg and me to join her family and friends for dinner today. The Suits family and their neighbors, Steve and Eve (that's so cool that their names rhyme!), switch off holding Thanksgiving at their house each year. There was SO MUCH yummy food there. We brought a sweet potato pie and a pumpkin pie--which actually turned out quite splendidly. We had turkey, stuffing, Brussels sprouts, yams, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, and green bean casserole. Greg and I just saw something on the History Channel the other day about green bean casserole, and everyone at dinner today was interested to learn the interesting and useless fact that the woman who invented green bean casserole is named Dorcas. Greg had to leave before we broke out the pies, but Linda sent some of her divine cranberry-apple pie home for him. I think that was the best pie I've ever had, and I've had some good pie in my 24 years. Linda, Eve, and I went for a walk after lunch. It was beautiful outside--it was sunny, clear, and the setting in the middle of the cornfields and pastures was perfect. Steve and Linda's husband Duston are in an 1850's-style band, so when we got back from the walk, they played some songs for us which was very cool. Then we chatted for a while and called it an evening. I love Thanksgiving--good friends, good food--it's the perfect holiday. I hope that everyone had a wonderful day today!