MaeLyn's Musings

The kids were at school. My chores were done. What did I want to do today? The last few days I've been working on sewing myself a new blouse. Yesterday I added the collar and sleeves. All that it still needs are buttons and hemming. I didn't have buttons for it yet, and that would require a trip to the store. Was it worth it? On the one hand, it snowed yesterday, and the roads were slushy with snow and ice. It was less than 20 degrees outside. I hate driving in the snow. I could find something else to do today. On the other hand, it wasn't currently snowing, but it might snow later on today, and there is a chance of snow every day for the next week. There might not be a better time to go. And I couldn't finish my blouse until I got buttons. In the end, I decided to go. I gathered some leftover scraps of cloth that I wanted the buttons to match, scrounged up a coupon, recorded some information from a skirt pattern, just in case I came across some fabric for a skirt...

Time management can be an interesting thing. Each day has twenty four hours. I like to spend at least 7-8 of those hours sleeping. That leaves 16-17 hours of time each day to do stuff. Kind of. 15 minutes of each day is spent in family scripture reading and family prayer. About half an hour each day is spent in personal prayer and scripture study. About an hour and a half each week day is spent exercising. (This includes the time spent walking my kids to and from school.) About half an hour a day with personal showering/ dressing/ grooming activities. I spend about two and a half hours each day either preparing or eating or cleaning up from meals and at least 15 minutes a day just straightening up and picking up clutter. All that is only about 5 1/2 hours. That leaves 10 1/2 hours or so each day to do whatever, right? Well, then there is the house cleaning - the vacuuming, mopping, dusting, organizing. I probably spend two or three hours a week doing housework. (I could spend more,...

Yesterday was a turning point in my life. For the first time in eighteen years, I am officially a student, this time entirely by my own choice, learning something just because I want to. I've enrolled in an online creative writing course, and class started yesterday. I am so excited! If you read this blog on a regular basis, you've probably figured out that I enjoy writing. I don't know who would write a blog four or five times a week for over a year if they didn't. My problem is trying to make what I write interesting. I think I either come off as a newspaper reporter, dryly reporting the facts of whatever I'm thinking about, or, when I'm trying to be particularly creative, I overdo it and my writing comes off sounding stilted and weird. Is there a happy medium? Yesterday's lecture discussed three key elements for creative writing: observation, imagination, and language. Suggestions for exercises included things like: observe your hand closely and write...

In Institute this morning, one of the things we discussed was the importance of keeping records. In the Book of Mormon, we learn that one of King Zedekiah's sons escaped from Jerusalem when Zedekiah's other sons were killed and Zedekiah himself was carried away captive into Babylon in 587BC. This son's name was Mulek. (see Hel 8:21.) Mulek and his people journeyed in the wilderness and were eventually led to the Promised Land (See Omni 1:15-16), arriving in the northern part of the land (See Hel 6:10). His people settled the land, had families, had wars and contentions, and lived their lives for about 300 years before they were discovered by the Nephites. They named their land Zarahemla. (See Mosiah 25:2 and Omni 1:14) When the Mulekites left Jerusalem, it was probably in haste because of the Babylonian attack. As a result, they didn't bring any records with them. Because they had no written records, a couple important things resulted: Their language was corrupted...

I took a walk with a cat today- with no collar, no leash, no plans. It just happened that way. I had hardly left my house before I heard a meow, loud and strong. "Where are you going? Can I come too?" She seemed to say. "Well, come along," I told her, and so she followed me. We came to a driveway. "Is this where you're going?" She sauntered up the walk, then looked at me. I didn't stop. "Come along," I said. We passed a porch where a puppy lurked. "Be careful!" she meowed. "He won't hurt you. Come along." I said. Sometimes behind, sometimes ahead, she came with me. Like a child she stopped to look, to smell, to explore. "Come along." I would tell her. When we came to the stop sign, I crossed the street. "That's dangerous!" she meowed. "It's safe now. Come along." I replied, and she followed me. A few minutes later, she crossed back over. "It's ...