Happy Valentines to me

My husband's doing pretty well with Valentine's Day.
So far he took me to lunch at Maddox on our way to see grandkids in Logan Saturday.
He has reservations for dinner tonight at PF Chang's on our way to see more grandkids in Spanish Fork.
And he bought me a box of my favorite orange cremes from Kara's.
(I knew he was up to something when he told me not to look at the bank account for a couple of days and let me know he had to have lunch at the mall on Monday.)
In return I filled up his desk jar with candy I won't snitch from him like licorice and Hot Tamales.
He's coming along.
Years ago he'd forget once in a while and there was trouble.
He now watches our son-in-laws mess up now and then and he fears for them.
We sweet women like to be remembered.
A love note.
A special bouquet (not the Costco flowers, please).
A night out.
A night in with a movie and popcorn.
A pretty piece of jewelry.
Tickets to a concert.
A jet flight to Paris (I just threw that in to see if you were listening.)
It's all good and while there are those who think the holiday is just made up so businesses could sell chocolates and roses, it's more of an opportunity of renewal, a chance to say "I still love you."
Every wife, every mother, every girlfriend wants to feel cherished. It keeps the heart happy.
Especially when everyone around her is getting similar attention.

Books and things that matter

My first meeting as a member of the American Fork City Library Board and I already have a cause to promote.
Buy more books.
No, make that get more money to buy more books.
Seems that over the years, the library has taken budget hits every time the economy lagged or the city had to tighten its belt.
There have been some years that there's been no money for adding to the library collection.
So over time, the American Fork City Library has fallen behind, so much so that the state library association has told us our certification is in jeopardy.
The standard is for a library to spend at least 9 percent of its operating budget on its collection.
American Fork's percentage is 6 percent, roughly 3 percent below what it should be, that for a library that is seeing ever increasing use.
That needs to change and one way to deal with it is to ask the city council to assign a portion of its property tax to the library, something other communities routinely do.
The taxpayer wouldn't see any change in the tax bill and the library would no longer be subject to the rise and fall in revenues.
We, as a board, and the librarian in charge, could rely on a consistent amount of funding and make solid plans based on stability.
It would eliminate so much anxiety and assure an ongoing high quality of library service to the community.
It would make things even.
And it would respond to the taxpayers who told us in 1997 that they WANT a high-quality library which — it goes without saying — includes the latest in collection items.
If you're interested in convincing the local city council that this is truly what we as readers, parents, teachers and constituents want, let me or us know. We're aiming at presenting our case to the city council in the March budget meeting.
You can email me at haddoc@desnews.com or Sheena Parker at the library at: sheena@afcity.net

Valentines to cuddle up with

Ages ago, we decided to start a tradition of giving books to our grandchildren for Valentine's Day.
We looked around and although I'm a big fan of chocolate, we decided rather than shop for the latest sweet treat in a heart-shaped box, we would find a good book to give each one of them each year.
It would be a gift that stayed around and hopefully would give to the whole family as an addition to bedtime storytime and show them grandma and grandpa believe in books.
It seemed like a good idea in the beginning.
Now, 22 years and 30 grandchildren later, we're trying to keep it up.
It's a daunting task.
We not only have to try and stay within a reasonable budget but we try to match the personality and reading level of the particular grandchild with the book.

some of this year's haul

The good part is we really have to focus on each child's interests and abilities. The bad part is it's a brain breaker exercise to keep track of who has what and who needs what.
We usually head toward the classics that every family library ought to have: "Good Night, Moon" and "Where the Wild Things Are" and "The Secret Garden" and "Olivia" books.
We try to avoid the fluffy, gimmicky books but "Where's The Dragon" with the imprinted, hidden dragons was such a hit, we've bought another half dozen copies of "The Lost Unicorn" that has similar characteristics.
We have sometimes given a graphic novel, sometimes a copy of "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid." This year there's a Kindle Fire gift card in the mix.
Sometimes we hit the mark well and other times we probably miss.
It's really tricky to find the book with all the right elements: something we think is worthwhile that is also something the child will read.
That's our primary goal.
We want our grandchildren to develop a love for reading so even though it takes a dozen trips to the local bookseller and several journeys out onto the Internet before we have just the right book for everybody, we want to hang in there. (Then we saddle up the horses and drive around the state to make delivery.)
It's exhausting but ultimately very satisfying.
We think it's the best Valentine we can give them.

Zombie debt and other bills

I read this headline in the business section of the Deseret News today.
"Zombie debt creeps onward in Idaho courts."
I didn't recognize the term so I asked my all-knowing husband.
"It's debt that won't die!" he exclaimed, quite proud of himself for the instant answer.
I stared at him and returned to the story.
Apparently Zombie debt is pretty much that, debts that get bumped from small-time creditor to big meany-creditor and then sold to people who try to settle them for pennies on the dollar or dismiss them all together.
I realized that's what my dad has done with his bills, turned them into Zombie debt.
He has this guy — I'll call him Mr. Magic — he's hired to take care of bills that just got to be too much for him.
He signed a three-year contract and agreed to pay $600 a month so Mr. Magic would go out and negotiate with his creditors for lesser payment.
Mr. Magic got a stack of dad's bills and dad got this little device that hooks to his phone that redirects any calls from people trying to collect on a bill to Mr. Magic.
I haven't been impressed with the plan but my father thinks it's a godsend.
Whenever he got a phone call he didn't like, he just pressed a button and "Voila!," the annoyance was gone.
Dad didn't have to think about it anymore.
When circumstances brought his children, my three brothers and me, into the financial picture, we started asking questions.
"What bills has this magic man paid off? When will we see a reckoning?" and "Can we talk to these people, please?"
The answers: Mr. Magic's paid the smaller debts. We have yet to see a reckoning. and there's never a live Mr. Magic we can find to talk to.
The three years are up this October by which time, I assume we'll find the big bills are still awaiting payment.
I'm pretty sure we'll be told that despite their best efforts, dad still owes his debts and we will have to take over worrying about them for him.
Meanwhile, I'm here wondering why my elderly father is paying $600 a month to keep Zombie debt at bay.
And trying to calculate how much dad would've paid off if he'd simply used that $600 a month (or $21,600) to pay the bills on his own.
I haven't much faith in Zombies.

Almost arrested

My job was simply to pick Adell up from school.
I didn't know anything about taking another little girl home with us but she barreled into Adell as soon as Adell came out of the door saying she was coming over to play with her.
I looked at my granddaughter who quickly collected her social self and said, "Sure! You can come with me and my grandma!"
I was concerned.
No one had given me any orders like this and I had never seen this little person before, cute as she was.

Take me with you

"What's your name?" I asked her as she and Adell clutched each other like bosom buddies.
"Evie! And I asked my mom!" She said.
I looked around to see if anyone appeared to be looking or waiting for Evie.
"Uh, Ok. The car's over here," I said, leading the way and wondering how much time I should take to check out Evie's story. I needed to be at another granddaughter's in Eagle Mountain in 20 minutes.
We got in the car and everybody buckled up while I called my daughter, Adell's mother.
"Know anything about a playdate with a little girl named Evie?" I asked her.
"Noooo. I don't know anything," said Kari. "And the house is a mess (she had contractors going in and out to make some simple repairs). I guess I'll figure it out."
I started to back out but hesitated when Adell yelled, "Look Evie! There's your mom! She looks like she's looking for you!"
We got out of the car and found not only a mom but an anxious aunt looking for Evie who apparently hadn't asked for specific permission to come play at Adell's, only general permission for a "someday" playdate.
Evie's mom was mad.
"Evie! Haven't I told you not to go off with strangers!" she hollered at this unrepentant smiling child.
"Uh, I wasn't sure what to do here," I said. "She told us she asked you."
I realized it sounded pretty lame so I told her my name and gave her my business card with my daughter's name and number on the back.
"Maybe you can talk with her and Evie could come tomorrow," I suggested.
She took the card but still looked at me suspiciously.
I guess it's a good thing I came to my senses before I left the parking lot with Evie.
I think child abduction is a felony.

The kind of movie for me

After watching a bunch of esoteric short films at the LDS Film Festival with high-minded messages and some with really deep and confusing messages, I was so happy to see this simple, sweet, little movie about Clara.
Clara is a beautiful little girl with a problem, sort of a Cinderella girl in that she sweeps and wears tattered clothing.
Clara wants her stepmother to like her but she doesn't know how to make that happen.
She asks the magic owl on the roof to help, a magic owl who is a simply adorable baby.
The magic owl on the roof comes through for her as does the kindly doctor and all ends well.
A charming tale shot entirely with children, it's cute and unique.
Whereas sometimes parents or grandparents overestimate the cuteness factor of their own offspring, these kids are really very watchable.
The energy put into the sweeping is appealing.
The baby on the roof has a smile that's both goofy and great.
Apparently this is the first of what mom Eliza and dad Jan Dawson hope will turn into a web series of fairytale stories.
I'm on board.
See the film at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAqZI7NUQjk&feature=youtu.be
How about you?

Sew nice

Steven's invention

It was a dilemma.
I wanted a new sewing machine that hummed along, one that didn't fight me on every stitch.

The yawning hole

But I also wanted to hang onto the gift my mother gave me years ago.
I knew then and understand better now that she had very little money to spend on a graduation gift for me.
The sewing machine was a beautiful piece of furniture as well as a nice machine.
It came with all kinds of cams that made it possible to make buttonholes and fancy stitches.
I loved it and over the years I've sewn everything from baby bibs to clown outfits.
I made Halloween costumes for my children that my grandkids play in today.
I made bedspreads and lawn quilts.
I made bags and covers and Barbie nightgowns.
A lot of fabric and thread has passed through the feed dogs.
But as the years went by, the machine became problematical. It would buck and stall.
Even after I took it to the local sewing machine guy, it refused to give me an even stitch.
I had to sew very carefully and live with some odd-looking seams.
It was so frustrating that I told Marc that this year I was ready for a new machine for Christmas.
We went and lookcd.
We found a number of good options.

The board in place

But every one I liked had the same problem. It wouldn't come in the old cabinet.
I would have to give it up or give it away.
I tried to find a machine I could put in the old case but it seems the modern machines don't do well hanging upside down.
Machines that come in cases are way more expensive than I was planning on.
My son solved my dilemma.

Ready to sew

He made this little wooden panel that rests across the opening where the old machine rests.
It's light. It doesn't slide away. It supports the new machine and it looks good.
I told him he should make them to sell.
My research tells me there are more ladies out there looking for this kind of solution than me.