You'll never regret being kind.

 I haven't written in a long time.  Not sure why!

I would say I'm an artistic person in certain ways.  I can see in my head what I want to do in my garden, but I can't do pencil drawings of people and kids like my Mom did.  One thing I'm really into right now is acrylic paint pouring.  I came across a video and then watched many videos, mesmerized and decided I needed to learn how to do it!  This method is perfect for me, because I can let go of the artistic perfectionism I hold onto in other parts of my life.  This was my first painting that worked well and I really like it, just did this last week.  Now that I have all the supplies and have a handle on the process, I'll be doing lots more of these!  You never know how they are going to turn out, what colors will pop out, if "cells" will pop out, etc.  You can have a plan, and then it can turn out totally different from what you had in your mind.  It's good for helping my mind to be flexible.  Heck, you can always repaint over the canvas if it doesn't turn out the way you want!

Mat and I went on a couples retreat at Quickwater Ranch a couple weeks ago.  The retreats are held in Victor, ID and are organized by the Jacobsen family.  They have retreats throughout the year for couples, families, teens, Moms.  I was "on top of it" enough that I got applications for a couple of retreats mailed in on time!  That's something, isn't it?  I told Mat in January that NOT getting those days off wasn't an option!  We couldn't leave until after Mats festival performances, so we left about 9:00 p.m. and drove as far as Pocatello and stayed in a hotel.  About half way there, the car door started making a horrendous noise, I knew that driving it was making whatever the problem was worse.

Back Story:  After we hit the deer in January, we had the car fixed at Bountiful Collision. When we went south for spring break, driving consistent, fast speeds, it sounded like the driver side door wasn't closed tight - a little too much wind coming through! I kept asking Mat if his door was shut tight! 

Wednesday morning I called Bountiful Collision from the hotel to see what we could do.  I wasn't sure we should drive one more mile with the dreadful noise it was making!  Without hesitation, the guy I talked to on the phone told me that he was on his way, that he would tow a rental car up for us to use, and tow ours to the shop to fix while we were gone.  He must be one of the owners, he's at least heavily invested in doing great work and making people happy!  Honestly, I was shocked ... but not surprised after I thought about it.  We've always had them fix damage to cars, and they stand behind what they do!  We've always been happy with them!

So we arrived 3 hours late to the retreat, but going was a perfect way to fill my proverbial tank.  We attended workshops and classes over 4 days, worked together on teams, some people we'd never met, to prepare and clean-up meals. I taught a painting class at the retreat, I think people really got into it like I have, even some Dads!  It got wheels spinning about how to incorporate this kind of painting into their family life - McK loves to do it with me!  It was really fun to teach and we got great paintings from everyone. 

Friday night we had an energetic conversation with some of the couples at the retreat.  We stayed up until about 1 a.m. talking mostly about the hard things we face with our teenagers, but lots of other things too. I get a little hypersensitive when talking about kids who "stray".  We have a child who identifies in the LGBTQ, revealed to us when the child was 16.  I have learned over the years as we've worked through this that all our child really needs is LOVE.  The child (trying to protect privacy ... not sure I'm doing a great job!) was sure there would be an immediate eviction from our house when we found out.  There was a lot of stress for a while, but my mind was opened and calmed after we went to a presentation by Richard Ostler at Bountiful High--look him up!  Because all that's really needed is LOVE and PATIENCE and ACCEPTANCE.  As parents we are obligated to provide temporal and physical needs, to teach correct principles/morals/values in the home, and to love these kids unconditionally, and have faith that they can ... and they will find their way.

I feel very strongly that we should never look at a person and make a judgement about whether or not they deserve our love.  Heavenly Father loves all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, addiction, economic or housing status, and all the other boxes we put people in ...!  Now, am I perfect?  Heck no.  But since going through this in our family, with a child that felt ostracized from members of our church, I am much more aware of it and try hard to resist putting judgements on people different from me.  We need all people to feel welcome at church, or in the neighborhood, or at school, or at work, or on public transportation, or anywhere else.  As Christians and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we follow Christ, right? So let's have a collective "come to Jesus" moment regarding what happens in our neighborhoods and churches, and make sure that anyone that is different from us feels welcomed and accepted and loved unconditionally.  Really, until things change on the societal level, we are falling short. (Other than that, I don't have any strong opinions on the subject 😂)

On Saturday, we rushed home because we needed to go pick up our new 7 month old puppy who started as Gemma, morphed to Bella, but we landed on Marley. We haven't had to deal with potty training, she picked up on the dog door pretty quickly.  Pyper is definitely "Alpha" in this situation.  Marley tolerates that side of it, but loves to play outside with Pyper, go on walks and go to the dog park.  She's about 3 - 4 pounds heavier than Pyper and has a beautiful red, curly coat.  She's just figured out that it's OK to be on the couch and on the beds, though the two sleep in a kennel together, and hang out together in the kennel if I have to run errands.  We are her "guardians", meaning that when she goes into heat, I'll take her to the breeder and they'll do their business, then she'll come back for about 2 months, then go back there to deliver and feed babies for 8 weeks.  We do that for 4 litters, then she's ours ... free of charge (other than expenses we'd have anyway if she was our dog).  

Could anyone look at that face
and NOT want to take her?

My scans are next week.  Bone scan Monday, CT scan Thursday, meeting with the oncologist on Friday.  I'm a little worried about hips on both sides.  There has been some hard stuff happen in our support group with my terminal people I love.  It's so hard to see the progress cancer makes, despite our best efforts!  I worry especially about my cousin Carlie, who has Inflammatory Breast Cancer, the rarest form of breast cancer, and the hardest one to treat efficiently. Love you Carlie! Keep your chin up and never stop fighting!