It is really late

So my mom and sister have been here for a couple weeks and we've been crazy-busy doing ... nothing. It's a beautiful thing.

I am currently killing time (which is so much worse than plain ole WASTING time) because Steve left for the States today and I don't want to go to bed. Even though I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. (I am outright unhealthy when he's not here - I eat way too much chocolate and don't get enough sleep.)

SO - it occurred to me that I could blog! Hey! That's so much more productive than cruising celebrity websites to catch up on the latest gossip - which I would never do, of course.

Admittedly, I don't really have much to blog about. Let's check out my computer's file to see if I've got any cool pictures to share.....

Hmm. Apparently I haven't transferred pics from the camera to the computer in a while. (Not for lack of TAKING of them.) Gotta work on that one.

So what should I talk about? The possibilities are endless. But perhaps just random stuff is more conducive to my current state of mind - or lack thereof. So let's go.

* I just checked my friend Reva's website and she related the most horrific story I can possibly imagine. The hard drive with ALL of her pictures - everything since her wedding - has died. Resurrection costs total $700 and I feel her pain. Deeply. Every time I turn on the computer I hold my breath until I know for sure it hasn't died during the night. This is why I scrapbook. And even then I have nightmares that they'll be victims of a natural disaster or an insane maniac thief with a penchant for other people's family photos.

* This reminds me. All of my home DVDs no longer work. I was recently told that home DVDs only last three years or so. WHAT KIND OF CONSPIRACY IS THIS?!?!?? PEOPLE'S MEMORIES ARE NOT SUBJECT TO TECHNOLOGY BLUNDERS!!! SO GET WORKING, SCIENCE! INVENT SOMETHING THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO WATCH ENDLESS HOURS OF MY CHILDREN ROCKING BACK AND FORTH ON THEIR KNEES, WAITING FOR THEM TO CRAWL! *I* LOVE IT, IF NO ONE ELSE DOES!!!

* What kind of price would you put on memories, anyway? This reminds me. So the other night Jordan decided to be wide awake at midnight and my mom and Steve were both not feeling good, so I took the late shift. We got comfy on the couch and flipped channels. I settled on a half-way-through "50 First Dates" with Adam Sandler and Drew Berrymore. Frankly, I don't like either one of them, but choices were slim at midnight on a Wednesday night. And it turned out to be THE sweetest little love story. She suffers from short term memory loss - she has retained all of her old memories up to the day of her car accident, but any memories accrued during the day she loses that night. So every morning she has to be informed that she was in a car accident, that it was years ago, and all the events that have happened since then. Adam Sandler's character has to make her fall in love with him every day. Everyone thinks he's nuts; she can't remember him from one day to the next. But he just says that there's no one else he wants to spend his time with - he loves her. I actually cried at the end. I could go into the ending, but it would spoil it and take too long.

It really got me thinking, though, you know? I can't imagine being in love with someone who doesn't remember you - indeed, having years of memories that they don't. But you know what? Even if Steve didn't have a clue who I was, I'd never leave his side. He's my everything. Like the movie said, there's frankly no one else I'd rather spend my time with. Okay, I'll stop before I get toooo mushy and risk losing readers. ;o)

*I will say, though, that even edited for TV, I was deeply disappointed in a couple of completely unneccessary foul-mouthed characters and raunchy character traits. Why ruin a perfectly sweet plot? I ask you.

* Perhaps one more recent occurrence before I go read Harry Potter until I pass out. This is of a much more serious nature.

Last Sunday, the stepfather of one of my young women tried to kill himself. He slit his wrists while we were at morning church. I was on the phone all afternoon, it seemed, and spent all evening letting Jennifer cry on my shoulder. Then one of my counselors, the Relief Society president and I went to the house to clean up all the blood late that night. I've never been one for horror movies, and now I know why. That scene will haunt me for the rest of my life. I will spare you details.

He's okay now - he got out of the hospital on Friday and is now undergoing treatment for depression. Jennifer is also doing amazingly well. And her mom? Her mom, Maria, is getting baptized.

This is nothing short of a miracle.

Jennifer's best friend, Dayse, had to work on Maria for TWO YEARS before she let Jennifer go to church. Another two years passed before Maria let Jennifer get baptized. Maria is a devout Catholic - a wonderful woman - but rather anti-Mormon. And now she's getting baptized herself.

I talked to her for a long time today, crying and hugging. At one point I expressed concern that her husband may not approve and now may not be the best time to rock the familial waters. But she just looked me in the eye and said, "but it's true, isn't it?"

It is. It really is. I. Am. Happy.