Just posted on my other blog:

Excerpts from the oddities of life

My Girls

Londyn Grace

Just wanted to introduce you to our newest addition!!!

LOVING LUCY....THE END

I got the dreaded call today.

I knew it would come.

You have to expect that when you are friends with a 94 year old.

I have cried and cried and cried. I read her obituary in the paper. I felt hopelessly frustrated. How can you summarize an entire sunny life in just a few paragraphs? How can you explain what a phenomenal person just left this earth by a black and white photo on pg. 10?
I am sure 99% of the readers of that obituary just passed it by thinking it is just some old person that lived a good life.
She was lonely. She will be with her husband and daughter now.
She lived in a "retirement" center. She is now in heaven...what is better than that?

So why do I feel such a loss? Why am I so sad? Why do I feel like a part of me is missing? We weren't even family.

When someone affects your life...I mean really touches it and makes it better...the realization hits that God does love each one of us.

He cares so deeply for me that he let me know Lucy.

He knew she would love me unconditionally

He knew she would teach me how to plant flowers.

He knew I needed her to teach me about sunny things.


.....and giggling at 93.

some updated family pictures

Thank you Ashley!!!

Discretionary Caution Observed

I am feeling remotely free for this small space of time...a benefit to all who read this post because I am about to admit something that very few people know and even less want to find out about. I usually use discretion...not wanting to enhance the common opinion about me...but like I said I, for the moment am feeling free. Congrats.

I am fascinated at watching and observing how people handle things that come up in life. How they handle grief or change or hardships or blessings. I love to watch the resiliency in some and feel sad for those who don't handle things well. Oddly and even more fascinating to me is how I handle the above. I am not so great with change, hate grief, could give up hardships and I lackadaisically handle blessings.

The most poignant memory for me (and here come the beans spilling all over the floor) was a bed full of laundry. I remember, being fairly newly married, walking into our mobile home bedroom and seeing our bed with hundreds of thousands of clothes laying, heaping, and needing to be folded and put away. I remember the hate boiling up. Is this what my life had come to...a meaningless heap of laundry? I considered walking away. I pondered ignoring. I hoped for help and despised the reality.

But then came the resiliency. I squared my shoulders, straightened my shirt, replaced a fallen strand of hair, and became a talk show host. Yep. The third grade imagination came at me with full force. It was Chersten's Sharing Show...an eclectic mixture of ideas and expertise to help with the hum drum of daily life. I began the hour expressing my disdain for laundry and how I had found a way to fold and organize my clothing in a way that was not only satisfying to me but to the very clothes I had once had bad feelings for. I showed how to fold the fitted sheets, and the shirts, and how to properly hang those dress pants for optimum non wrinklage. The show was well received...I was an icon in the folding industry and best of all the hundreds of thousands of clothing items were all put away nicely, organized, and with love.

The sad thing, is that this has translated over to many aspects of my life. I also have a cooking show, an organization show, a cleaning and scrubbing hour, and many more I choose not to divulge.

We all handle things that come up in life very differently, mine just happens to be a little schizophrenic in nature.

Oh my gosh...I can feel the free feeling seeping out of me...I must hurry and publish this
before I wimp out.

a simple card...

I once got a card in the mail with a beautiful Thomas Kinkade picture of a cottage and a light house on the front. On the inside of the card, with beautiful cursive writing, I read the following:

"Hi Chersten,
This is a picture of your future home along the Oregon Coast" (I have always wanted to live by the Oregon Coast)
"I just wanted to send you a little note and thank you for who you are and what you do for Jared. We really enjoyed having Taelor. He has such a neat personality he gets from his mother.
At any rate, we love you, respect you and appreciate you.
Love Grandpa Wright"

This was from my father-in-law.

My father-in-law passed away this summer after a two year battle with brain cancer.

He was my seminary teacher in high school. He always knew how to make you feel good about yourself because he would compliment you in such a casual way that you would go away feeling better about who you were and not realize why.

He was faithful and kind...willing to do anything for anybody.

He could lighten the mood with a single comment...sending people who had just moments before been heated to smiling despite themselves.

The card I received was a simple expression of his love for others, his willingness to accept others with open arms, and his thoughtfullness. To be honest, heaven doesn't seem quite so far away any more and knowing that he is there makes death not seem so tragic.

I am grateful that I had "Bro. Wright" as a seminary teacher...that will never change.

But now, I feel overwhelmed and humbled that I was able to have Chadwin Spencer Wright as my father-in-law...and my friend.

Mom of the Year

For some time now, I have been in the running for the mom of the year award. Some doubted and some speculated....but today it is official. I have long deserved it.

How? you ask.

Please refer to the April 10th post. It tells all.

It happened again.

A masters degree...

Jared has graduated with his master's degree. I am so proud of him. Here are a few pics.

Halli Droppings

I remember when my uncle got my brother to eat a deer dropping by telling him they were deer vitamin. To this day I don't know why that would entice him to eat one, but he did.

Today I had a flashback.

Halli's digestive system as of late has been rebelling against all of the solid foods I have been feeding her. I will stop there...no further explanation needed right? After I changed her diaper, I had to run in the other room to find something Jared needed in a hurry. When I came back into the living room, I found that Halli had opened that diaper (do you see where this is going?) and was eating...yes eating her "Halli droppings". This picture is very similar to the look I had on my face when I saw the atrocious scene.

Did you know you can find out quite the plethora of info from poison control? Apparently it isn't so bad to eat...never mind.

For the love of red vines

The Gottas and the Wannas

There is a dilemma I face each day. The dilemma is as follows: trying to find the balance between the gottas and the wannas.

Each day I do a lot of gottas, but wish I were doing the wannas, but if I do the wannas, I feel guilty that I'm not doing the gottas. You know what I mean...gottas include washing, cleaning, sweeping, paying, shopping, wiping, dressing, mopping, organizing, planning, sanitizing, folding, exercising and many other "ings".

The wannas are much more colorful and full of fun. Eating a bowl of ice cream, attacking that book I got from the library, taking a nap, working on the blog, talking on the phone, shopping for stuff we don't need, sitting down to play the piano, reading the funnies in the reader's digest, painting toenails, going out to lunch, and so on.

Now, this is the part of the blog where I sum up the problem and bundle it into a neat little solution...but to be honest...I don't have one. It is just one big gotta/wanna mess.



I better go clean.

Our Christmas card...if you will

Taelor's view

I think it is fasinating to see things through a child's eyes. The following picture is how Taelor feels the people and animals present at that first Christmas were positioned. You know...I think he just might be right.

Loving Lucy...Part II

About a month ago, I couldn't get a hold of Lucy. Every time I would call her, there would be no answer. For a 92 year old, you can imagine she doesn't get out a whole lot. With an abundant amount of naivete, I figured that I was missing her each time I called. How odd. Well, the "realistic" Chersten kicked in about the third time I called Lucy and she didn't answer. Something must have happened. I tried neighbors. I tried family. I even tried the obituaries. Nothing. I finally got a hold of an acquaintance and found out that Lucy had been put in a rest home...forgive me...a "retirement" center. I was shocked. Lucy is not the "retirement center" kind of gal. She thrives at home. She loves home. I went to visit her that day. When I walked into the room, I saw bits and pieces of her home...a nightstand, her brown couch, and the picture of her deceased daughter. When Lucy came out of her room, there was something missing. I realized that part of her had faded with the home she no longer occupied.

You see, Lucy is her flowers. Lucy is that can of pepsi hiding in her fridge. Lucy is the smile behind the tear. Lucy is the pictures of family and friends on her fridge. Lucy is the vacumm that you have to hold just a certain way in order for it to work. Lucy is the little black cat that comes each time she opens the door to take out the trash. Lucy is the sweet quotes all over her home. So what happens when these seemingly meaningless things are taken away? Part of Lucy is gone.

I visited her again a few days ago. After the visit, I felt sad as I walked down the long hall from her room.

I blinked back tears as I heard a t.v. blaring, ironically, I Love Lucy.

Friday Favorites

So, lately I have been thinking of all of the things I just love. I realized I am an odd specimen of a woman. I thought, kindly, that I could share a few of my favorites with you. Any of my Friday Favorites will have to measure up to pretty high marks in order to make it to the coveted Friday blog. They must make me very very happy. Uncannily so. So here, reader, is a glimpse into my world..the world of favorites...the world of happiness. (Please note that of course my family, the church, friends, and so on are on the top of my favorites. This is more of an eclectic gathering of favorites differing from the norm )


Today's Friday Favorites begins with Mr. Rodgers. It was one awe inspiring and life changing day that Mr. Rodgers introduced me to my favorite food combination. He took out a banana. He took out some cheese. Yes, my friends, he put them together. There is something truly magical about bananas and cheese. It has been a favorite of mine for many years...literally.



The other day, I was making dinner and realized (in horror) that Taelor had never had this delectable combo. So, toothpicks in hand I tried it on him. Mr. Picky LOVED them!!! It was a momentous occasion. I was passing the torch onto a new generation. My shoulders are now a little more square and I stand a little taller. Someone, in this vast universe, likes bananas and cheese just like me (and Mr. Rodgers). I am at peace. Thank you PBS!! (Or was it KBYU?)

Family Update

THE ALLRED GRANDKIDS

From left to right: Lexi, Taelor, Halli, Brenden, and Trevin

(Lexi and Trev. are Heather's kids...Taelor and Halli are mine...and Brend is my brother)

THE WRIGHTS

Back Row: Mary and Brent D., Stewart, Spencer, Andrew, Daniel and Ashley W. (with Emma) and Karen and Scott E.

Middle Row: Jared and Chersten W. (with Halli), Daunis (with Eden) and Chad W. and Chadwin

Front Row: Taelor W., Kadee E., Krista W., and Bella E.

(Missing are Aaron, Lisa, Lydia, Hannah, Rachel and Jenny Wright)

Costumes

Minnie Mouse

...and down she goes.

King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

(or Disneyland workers as Jared would say - isn't eye

liner incredible?)

EDITORS NOTE: This was an Elder's Quorum party, we brought Halli

but Taelor got to go play at someone's house.

Thus - no Taelor...but stay tuned

Loving Lucy

I have a friend. We are only separated by 62 years.

Her name is Lucy.

I love Lucy.

I always thought that there was a sacred triangle that you entered when you became a rickety old grandma. The sides of this triangle are "pessimism", "oh my aches and pains", and the last but definitely not the least is "kids these days". All people of an elderly nature are doomed to this triangle. I believed this. I cursed the day I would step out of my world into the dreaded triangle. I believed this, that is, until I met Lucy.

THE PAST: Lucy grew up like any little kid in the early 1900s. She loved to roller skate and bike. She had several barn cats and bright red hair. She went dancing on Friday nights and was wooed by the boys from the outskirts of town. She met one, fell in love and married. With that brought many joys and many hardships. She and her husband would take the widows in the ward for drives on Sunday afternoons to see the sights. One fateful afternoon, as they were driving, a little boy ran in front of the car. Lucy's husband slammed on the brakes. Lucy, who was pregnant at the time, hit the dashboard and consequently lost the baby. Her only other child died at the age of 40 from diabetes, and her husband died a few years later. I met Lucy because Jared was her home teacher. She was sweet and kind. One day, when Jared and Taelor were out of town I felt like I needed to go see Lucy. She was in the yard planting flowers. I spent the next 4 hours at her house planting and sharing meals on wheels with her. We laughed a lot. That became the beginning of a wonderful friendship. The thing that drew me to Lucy was her optimism. She hadn't made it through the triangle and that was mildly confusing because she was 89. She was alone...no children, no husband. She had her aches and pains...but "not any more than the next person". She had chosen to smile and laugh with life instead of be upset and bitter about it.

THE PRESENT: The more I learn about Lucy, the more I respect her. She LOVES music. She turns on music from the dancing days and trots around in the kitchen. She gets a silly grin on her face when she offers me an 'all the way' Pepsi. She reads love stories, and loves a good glazed doughnut. She loves the outdoors. She wants to see how her city is changing. She loves when the leaves change and aches to go to the mountains where she can see the beauty. She laughs...a lot. She gathers quotes and has them scattered around the house. Her favorite? "I often wake up grumpy in the morning, but sometimes I let him sleep in". She has surrounded herself with happy things. She finds joy in the simple things and hasn't allowed the taste of bitterness to enter her every day life. This is a small tribute to a very wonderful woman, but it is a tribute non the less.

Halli and Lucy, October 20, 2008