It's been one week since you looked at me....

What a whirlwind! A week since I last posted, and what a week it has been. Kendra called and asked me to do a slide show for Mandy's funeral. I was happy to do it. She brought over about 80 pictures and that was fine. She said that she had about 50 more pictures and I told her that was okay, I just needed them that night. I got home and was told that Kendra wouldn't even tell them how many pictures there were. There ended up being about 197 pictures for the slide show. That was a little bit overwhelming, and I cried a little bit.

It took me a while to realize how selfish I was being. This family has lost someone very important to them, and of course they wanted all the pictures they could have in the slide show. I would want the same thing. She was an amazing young woman, and she, and her family, deserved the very best. The greatest payoff I could have ever had was when Susan hugged me and said "You have no idea what this means to me. I will cherish it forever and ever and ever and ever." I realized at that point, that the late nights (and there were only one or two) had definitely been worth it. It is a treasure that they can have for always.

For me, one thing I am taking away is (an attempt) to be more positive. One reason everybody loved Mandy so much is because she made a conscious decision that every day was going to be a good one. So that is my personal goal. Outside influences are no longer going to dictate how I feel. Even when things go wrong (and this week they did) I can learn from them, and turn them into positive experiences.

I completed my first week at Laser Mania this week as well. I opened and closed three out of the four days I worked, and my boss was a little bit nervous about leaving me with just Kim (who is his sister-in-law and only 15) well there were no major disasters, and I managed to only make one mistake. So things are progressing nicely with my job, and it's really neat to see people having such a good time, and really be able to resolve issues when the arise. And when I come home at the end of the day and my feet are killing me, it just means that I've worked hard and it's really satisfying.

Becky and Hyrum came down for the funeral, and it was quite a treat. I love to see them, and my darling little nephews. Dewy now says Yes instead of yeah or uh huh when you ask him a question. He sounds so grown up. I couldn't believe how big Timmy is getting. And it's hard to believe that Ellie should be here in a month and a half! We wen't over to the worldmark where Becky and Hyrum were staying and went swimming. Little Lacie decided that she was big enough to jump in the pool all by herself...three times. Yowza. But Adam, Shaunie, Lincoln and I stayed in the pool for nearly three hours. We were all pretty tuckered out by the time we left, and I was a drowsy driver. Dad and Mom had separate cars and so I drove Moms car and Adam drove our car so that Mom and Dad could ride together and Dad could stay awake. Apparenlty I was more tired than I thought. But everyone made it home safely and that's what's really important.

Saturday I really started to get sick and so I called the poor Primary president and stayed home and slept. I've been running my body in high gear and it was not appreciative. So today I've been resting and had a fever on and off, but I'm sure I will be good for work tomorrow. I keep waiting to update my blog until I have pictures, and then forget to take my camera anywwhere. Go figure :) Anyway more later.

31 August 2008