Why Do Fools Fall In Love?

It might seem a little silly to be talking about this subject since Valentine's day is long past, but I have been a bit reflective lately, hence the subject of love.

In answer to the question of why, or possibly how, people fall in love I would give you the same philosophical answer that was wisely given to us by the tootsie pop advertisers, "The world may never know."

When Mark has been gone I have noticed a few things. I don't sleep well when he is not here so I make poor choices and stay up, sometimes until 2 am. By that time I know if I crawl into bed I will fall into a coma and therefore not have to lie in wait for sleep to overcome me. I also don't pick up the house as much because I work on projects more.

I thought about how easy it would be to convince yourself not to do things because they didn't matter. I thought about my life and where I might be without my good husband, besides alone and lonely. I thought about how much he loves me and our family and how hard he works to make sure we have the things we need and that we are happy. I thought about how much I love him.

I am grateful that God gave us the ability to love, the desire to share our lives with others, and the joy that doing so brings to us. I am grateful that the man I married has helped me to be better than I would have been alone, and that I too (hopefully) have done the same for him. Without him life would be just another day. I'm glad we have each other!

The rest of the story. . . . .

Ahoy Mateys!!! We wanted to take a cruise on the "Discovery" but we never made it back to the dock at any cruise times. We went to the house of the future and half of it was not open due to gliches in the electronics. That's not too positive a feature for the "house of the future". We did get to see a robot in action that "everyone across America could have in their home", that is if you are Bill Gates and you really want a robot to wash your dishes.

This is a fountain that is right at the beginning of Disney Downtown. I don't know the software that is on my computer so I couldn't flip it. Just turn your head a bit and you'll get the idea. It was amazing how quickly it got dark there especially because it wasn't that late. We left Disneyland about 6 so we could be with family.

This is a picture about an hour later from Uncle Lloyd's backyard. You can see the sun starting to set there. He has a fire pit in the corner that you might just be able to pick out. The fence has a gate that opens to a pathway for walkers. The area has been designated by the city as a "park" and will not be buildt on. It's really very nice.

This is the next day. (1/17/09) The whole time we were there the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze. It was nice because there was no smog to bother Jack, Mark's dad. The above picture is the view of the valley from the cemetary, Rose Hills, in LA. It was a beautiful day. Most of Mark's family on his Dad's side is buried there. There are also a few from his mother's side.

The most important part of it all was that we got to visit with family. His Aunt and cousins from Utah came and his cousin Arline was already there because she lives close by. (Arline would keep an eye out for Uncle Lloyd and was able to help watch over him when he got really ill.) Most especially Mark got to be with his dad. His dad, John, gave a wonderful talk at the funeral but it was very hard on him. I was glad they got a few moments alone the day before to walk and talk, and as you can see they were able to visit on the day of the funeral as well. He is a great example to us and we love him a lot.

It's raining, It's pouring!!!

I never thought I would be SOOOO happy to see it rain!!! We've been walking in a winter wonderland for a little over a week now. (Humans have no patience.) We live in the Pacific Northwest for a reason. If we want snow we will go and look for it!!! This week we have had no choice. The snow came to us. And it has been plentiful!!! It was actually quite gorgeous, but enough is enough. We Americans like to be able to drive where ever we want to with no restrictions whatsoever. Mark was having fun though. I had him take me to the store a couple of times and we went to deliver some packages to those he home teaches. We were bombing through the snow and spinning out on purpose to slide into parking spots, etc. I think it reminded him of his college days in K Falls, OR. All I have to say is that I am glad he was driving and I am so thankful for our old van, the Toyota Previa. That All Trak is a life saver. I used it several times, and Josh even took it to work. He liked being able to go all over without too many worries. I must say the best part about snow is the hot cocoa and pajama days!!! YUM!