Things That Make Me Happy

I’ve been past the stage of burn-out for over a month now and I need to shape up. First, I want to purge the stuff holed up in my pit. Just a little. Just to get it out of my system. –I started to write something about how others may handle my situation, but I’m not others. I’m working [...]

How much can you be bothered?

My boss and his partner send their staff inspirational thoughts every so often. I really liked this one and thought it was very appropriate for this blog. I’m not sure of the source so I can’t give anyone credit, but Brent, who sent it to me. Good stuff.
Does the news bother you? Does all [...]

Loblollies are Like Kudzu

I have a few hours this morning to really assess the situation around our house and have concluded that the *loblollies here have exceeded Grandma Nina’s* apartment. I have been trying to organize them since we made a bedroom into an office, which bumped the stuff in that bedroom out to many locations, causing a domino [...]

Stop Listening!

I have been training my computer to recognize my voice so it will take voice commands. I have been trying this because I need to transcribe some oral histories from tapes, and I was told that I could repeat the words from the tape, and my computer would type everything I said. It is supposed [...]

A Great Cause: JDRF

Hello All,
 
Last year I volunteered to represent the company I work for, MillerWade Group, at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) Walk to Cure Diabetes. It was a really fun event, but I was even more impressed with the foundation– the people who run it and the fact that 90% of the donation goes toward [...]

The Grimes Family Gathering-Vacation-Retreat-Shindig

I don’t think we’ve officially come up with what to call our yearly summer assemblage. We don’t like to call this event a “reunion” because we get together more than once a year and it’s not a grand gathering of the distant relatives that few of us know. My oldest nephew is about to turn [...]

Happy Memories Are Made By Appointment

Life is so fleeting. Time passes too quickly–don’t you just love happy memories? Aren’t you so grateful for them? They linger longer than the actual events and can be recalled and relived over and over again. I’m fond of a quote that President Monson has said in conference: “God gave us memories so that we [...]

Finding a New Kind of Normal

It’s been FAR too long since I posted on Happy Talk. 
Ah, life!
I used to attempt to do everything on my To-Do List all at once in an effort to keep up with someone else who could seemingly accomplish more in a day than I could. The problem with that is if it’s not who you are, you can turn [...]

Retarded Robin

We have the strangest robin in our back yard. I think he is the same “devil bird” that came bumping into our window last year. My husband and I were puzzled by the dumb thing then, and made the determination that he had brain damage from trying to get some string from our curtain inside [...]

Wife of a Deployed Soldier: Lessons Learned

Tonight, as I enjoy my dinner of Strawberry Shortcake, I’m reminded of the perks of being temporarily husbandless and childless. Since neither status is by choice, the best thing to do is learn to laugh at oneself and the little quirks that are picked up to combat loneliness.
My husband, Alan, was deployed to Iraq six [...]