We looked forward to being off for Labor Day a week ago. I had talked to one of the missionaries who is from California and she said that last year several people told her that she might want to shop for a coat over Labor Day and hit the sales, so she went up to Park City and went to the outlet mall and got a "Utah winter" coat. That sounded like a good plan to me, so I spent a couple of evenings on the internet and talked to several people for ideas. I was excited to have Monday and Tuesday to shop.
On Monday the 7th we decided to start out by heading south. We went to Sugar House first and I bought a red blouse on sale at Dress Barn and talked to a nice clerk there who told me I might want to check out Burlington Coat Factory in Murray. So we headed to Murray. I used to go to Houston to shop at Burlington, but haven't even gone in the one they opened in Beaumont. Not having kids at home any more has changed my shopping habits considerably. I was pretty disappointed in this one. It just had kind of a "dingy" feel to it and I wasn't impressed with their selection at all. We found Robert a London Fog coat for $69, which I thought was great, and they had ONE in my size, but it was black and I had my heart set on camel or white or red--almost anything except black.
We headed further south to a mall someone had mentioned. On the way, Debbie Vashaw called. She was in town for a convention and we told her we'd meet her shortly, after I made one more stop. I went to the mall and realized just HOW good the prices were at Burlington--there's no way I'd pay 3 times the price for a different color, but I wasn't ready to give up yet.We headed back to Salt Lake. I was pretty well tuckered out from shopping and we were looking forward to seeing Debbie. We took her to the Salt Lake City Cemetery and then she went to WalMart with us so we could get groceries. Then we came back to the apartment for a good visit and some homemade soup.
On Tuesday Robert made a DI run--that's almost a given on our P Days. Robert bought a Stair Stepper for $15 (which I could NOT IMAGINE him using!) and I found a coat for $8! It won't be warm enough when real winter gets here, but it's longer than the one I have and may take me through the fall. Couldn't beat the price.
We got back for class and then stayed after to do some research. We had asked our friends, the Birches, who work on the 2nd floor, to recommend someone who would sit with us and maybe be able to help us. We had a good helper who is experienced in Canadian records, but we haven't gotten any further on Frances Ruggles or Thomas. We stayed until after 6:00 and left bleary-eyed--still no progress there.
When we went back to work on Thursday, the 10th, it seemed as though we had been gone forever! We were glad to get back to our usual routine, though the break was good.
After our shift Friday, I asked Robert if we could go next door to JB's for dinner--I couldn't think of anything to cook and we didn't have the makings for something quick. He readily agreed. So we had dinner and then decided to go to the 30th anniversary of the hymnbook at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. Ahead of us was an older lady, very hunched over, walking in with perhaps a daughter or a granddaughter. She had long snow-white hair. They sat in front of us and several people, one after the other, came to speak to her. We soon decided we were the only people in the room who had no idea who she was! Robert leaned over and asked the lady next to him. She said, "Oh, that's Marianne Johnson Fisher who wrote "As I Search the Holy Scriptures." She has been blind since birth and sang with the Tabernacle Choir for years." What a story--what must it take to do all of that without sight?
On Sunday we had signed up to feed two of the young elders. When we got to church, our home teacher asked if he and his wife could visit with us after church, and we invited them to join us for dinner. We enjoyed having them--Kelly and Laura Wilson from Orderville, Utah. She is an artist and we have a print she gave us, which we have hanging in our living room. We had a good visit and enjoyed the young elders. One of them has a real talent for languages and he is serving on the B1 (international) Floor.
Our devotional on Monday was so interesting. A Polynesian couple, who have been the zone leaders in the FamilySearch Discovery Zone in the Joseph Smith Building, spoke about the changes taking place there. I hope to get a copy of their talk. The numbers they shared were mind boggling. They had like 19,000 visitors in June, 23,000 in July, and then as school started in August, it dropped off some, but I cannot even imagine them handling that many people. A lot of those were youth conference groups and they read some comments from the kids about how that was their favorite part of their youth conference, how much they loved it, etc. Now I have a new appreciation for why our first floor of the library will be closed in October for a major remodeling--they are putting in a much larger Discovery Zone there. This is the way to get the kids interested in doing genealogy, giving them a goal of getting names to take to the temple, and having them be ready to go to the temple to do the work. It all makes so much more sense now.
Yesterday was our P Day and I decided I wanted to go north this time for a shopping trip. We went to Layton to check out a store that several people have recommended for handling "Big Mama" sizes. I found it, but it was in a mall, which means prices weren't terrific, and it was small, which means not much selection. I was disappointed. I checked out Penney's and Dillard's while I was there, but just came out really tired. As we headed home, I asked Robert if we could go to Ogden and check out the Burlington Coat Factory there. We were driving on the freeway through rain hard enough that it was difficult to see where the lanes were, but my long-suffering husband agreed. We put the address in the GPS and it had us take the next exit, go under the freeway, back up, go back the 8 or 10 miles we had come, then go 20 more miles north! We found the Burlington and this one was very LARGE and very CLEAN and had MANY coats to choose from--wow! Believe it or not, I couldn't find the right combination of size and color, but I'm willing to try again in a couple of weeks to see if more have come in and if not, I'll be happy with something they have. I was very relieved to have found that store. While we were there, Robert couldn't pass up finding a DI! He found 2 card tables. We're hosting our social group in two weeks and the big room downstairs is already reserved, so Robert is convinced we'll all fit here in our apartment. He bought 4 folding chairs last week and the two tables this week. I found the exact brown crinkled skirt I had looked for all day--for $5. and also a pretty blouse for $4., so we both left happy. We drove past the Ogden Temple and took pictures, but we haven't been there yet. I'm anxious to spend a day in Ogden on a Temple/Research day because the lady I met online who was such a tremendous help to me on my Mason line, works in the Ogden Family History Center, and I am anxious to meet her in person.
 |
| A rainy day in Ogden |
As we walked to the library today it was raining and the temperature had dropped probably 30-40 degrees from what it's been. I was dressed in layers and was glad for each of them! We had our class again. I'm trying to save the handouts from each one to have when we get home in case we're asked to teach classes or something. We're definitely learning new things--if we can just remember it!
We had Mission Conference today. Sister Tate spoke about a time when she and her husband were first called to work in the Gilbert, Arizona Temple. They got up very early to go and then they were asked to come in even earlier because they needed men for the earliest session. She didn't need to work it, so she stayed in the basement to study. One morning she decided she didn't need to be in the basement, she could go upstairs. She went up on the first floor and enjoyed seeing people come in, but decided she could be upstairs in the Celestial Room. She went up there and basked in the light and beauty of that room and likened it to our often staying in the "basement" when we could be enjoying so much more. She also likened it to our families waiting for years to get out of the basement and waiting for us to do their temple work. I thought that was a good analogy.
It's been a busy two weeks. When we got home yesterday after all the coat/skirt shopping, we also bought groceries. Robert got up this morning and started cutting and chopping the ingredients for the gumbo he wants to make for the party in a couple of weeks. I think I'll still make a dessert. I called Sister Isaacson to meet me by the back fence so I could give her some bran muffin batter and she gave us chocolate covered lemon balls! Wow, we came out just fine on that trade--great to have friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment