Sophie's Story

There has been a lot of bad news this year. I don't think I need to recap any of it for you. It is almost beginning to seem like there is nothing good happening at all. There are some brave souls who are trying to combat this. My friend,Carol, sent me a link to a website that only broadcasts good news. President Thomas Monson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints observed, "While there are some things wrong in the world today,there are many things right," I couldn't agree more. I'm tired of hearing about the bad economy, the bad politicians and the fact that the whole country is going to H. E. double hockey sticks in a hand basket. I am pleased to say that several good things happened to our family this year and I'm going to tell you about a few of them. Carrie finished her first year of college this past spring and did well. She enjoyed school and spent a carefree summer doing some travelling to visit family in New York and Texas. When S

I was having a stressful week. Cooking for company at Christmas, working trying to keep the house neat. Worrying the the gifts I ordered would not come on time. Hoping that I would have enough Christmas cookies for Christmas. We were planning to have a small party on New Years Day. The house was a mess. I wasn't sure how many were coming. I wasn't sure what I would feed them or when I would buy groceries since the weather was supposed to be bad. C was working overtime and unable to help. I didn't need the cats to have an accident in the living room, but that is exactly what happened. I'm not sure why two healthy cats would choose to relieve themselves in a corner of the living room when they have three perfectly good litter boxes that would be much better. They are electing to stay silent on the matter so I will never know. Before going to the Internet for information on how to rid my house of the smell I went to Facebook. There was a message from Lissa. Lis

Carrie announced her intention to move out at the end of the month about four weeks ago. My first reaction was to try to talk her out of it. I didn't think it was a good idea. Part of the reason why she moved in in the first place was to save money and so that she could concentrate on her studies without having to worry about anything else. The program she is in is fairly difficult. She would not be able to work a part or even three quarter time job and maintain the grades she needs to to keep her scholarships. My cold practical side was not happy with the fact that she would need to use her savings to pay rent and living expenses. What would happen if she needed that money for school next year, I wondered. What if her financial aid next year would not be enough to cover her needs? Did she think this over at all? I worried that it was something I said or did. I know this sounds really silly, but as a stepmother I worry about this stuff once in awhile. I worried that other

"Greeting cards have all been sent. The Christmas rush is through, but I still have one wish to make. A special one for you." 'Merry Christmas, Darling' The Carpenters There are a few cards that have not been sent. Most of the presents that I ordered have arrived and are wrapped. For me, the Christmas rush is through. I have baked as many cookies as I can. The house has a few decorations. C has repaired the tree lights that Colby chewed through. It's Christmas Eve. I will be going to work today, filling the last few prescriptions for people to pick up. Watching people rush around looking for last minute items. The store closes at 4 PM. C and I will enjoy a dinner of chicken parmesan that we will prepare together. After we clean up the kitchen, the festivities will start. The first thing we will do is find a TV station that has "Yule Log" on. Yule Log is a picture of a fire in a fireplace with Christmas music playing in the background. I pref

The past few days C and I have been shovelling snow. After the last snowfall on Monday, C did not think shoveling was needed. I disagreed. I was afraid that my car would slide on the loose snow and into the side of the house. So we cleared the snow. Later that afternoon my back started to hurt. Really bad. I knew what had happened. Most likely I did not use good shoveling technique. I used my back too much instead of my legs and now I was experiencing the results. Fortunately for me being a health care professional I knew what to do (warmth,ibuprofen,mild activity) and what not to do (bed rest). In a weird way I'm glad this happened. I know that my back will get better and I did not do anything to my spine. I didn't do anything to a disc and there is no nerve pain. (I do know what that feels like.) I am getting a little taste of what life is like for several of my customers with back pain. That's not a bad thing. Sometimes health care professionals get a little sm

I got a letter from Elder Zee yesterday. He is one of my pen pals, out in this part of the country on a mission. His mission is about over and he will be returning home in three weeks. He is excited not only about going home to his family, but also be cause it is Christmas. He loves Christmas. Everything about it is fun for him. He and his brother missionaries have drawn names out of a hat to give presents to each other. He is going to read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" every day to his companion to get him into the spirit. He wants to find a Santa suit, if he can't find that he will get a hat. Elder Zee has always been enthusiastic. I'm amazed at it and I really hope that he stays that way. I'm not surprised at his attitude. I don't really share it though. December for most people in retail is something you get through. It means long hours, long lines and grumpy people. Even in a pharmacy people are in a hurry either due to the weather or events t

There was a snow storm this weekend. We got close to two feet of snow on the ground. While snowstorms are not unusual for Minnesota this is a lot more snow than we've had in the past few years. C and I spent a lovely day indoors as we couldn't get out of the drive way. We worked on Christmas cards and watched a movie. I thought we should shovel the driveway, but C didn't think it would be worth it. The snow was still falling and then the wind was supposed to start blowing. I was worried about the amount of snow we'd need to clear, but C had a good point. This morning I was up at 5:15 am thinking about starting to shovel. I knew it would be an all day task and thought to get an early start. It was still dark though and being unable to see would be a problem. Also I wasn't sure how cold it was outside. Waiting until sunrise would be warmer. Three hours later, I was bundled up and ready to go. I surveyed the driveway and got to work. It was a lot harder than I

"I don't like this!" the woman exclaimed, "You're over here and the bathroom is over there. Why can't they just leave things alone! They were working fine just they way they were!" I nodded in acknowledgement as I have been doing for all the complaints about the pharmacy moving to its new location in the store. Privately, I thought it was one of the stupidest complaints I'd heard and I've been hearing plenty since we moved into our new spot almost a month ago. The fact is things weren't working. The new pharmacy has much more light, is much more open and has a space where we can consult with someone privately without blocking any aisles. Since we are no longer near the door, it's warmer and there is a more comfortable waiting area. We have a rubber floor which is much kinder to the feet and backs of those who work there. I feel safer being away from the door, there are a lot of crazy people out there. Someone thinking of robbing the

Frank came back to our house the day after Thanksgiving right on schedule. Frank, for those of you who don't know him, is an Elf on the Shelf. The 'Elf on the Shelf" is a Christmas book about a tradition that a family started. The Elf would show up after Thanksgiving and serve as a scout for Santa Claus letting him know how the children in the house were doing. Every night he would go back to the North Pole to report and in the morning he would be in the house, but in a new spot. Children could talk to the Elf, but he would not be allowed to talk to them. He could, however, "talk" to the adults. Since we have no children, except grandchildren that visit once in awhile, we had to tweak this tradition a bit. We decided that every other evening one of us would "hide" the Elf for the other to find the next morning. When you buy an Elf you have the option of going online and giving it a name. We named our Frank after Frank Sinatra, my favourite singer. In