The End of the Road

After having typed approximately 200 Patriarchal Blessings over the past 5 years, our Stake President released me as the transcriber for the Patriarch of our Stake last night.  I couldn't help but shed some tears.  This has been an awesome calling for me (one I always wanted to have), but since I am our Ward YW President, an ordinance worker in the L.A. Temple, and do couple of other time-consuming things for the ward (choir and emergency services), Alan felt that I had too much on my plate so he mentioned to the Stake President that something had to go.  Well, this calling is not what I wanted to go, but I guess that is what the Lord wanted to go.  I was very excited, however, to hear that one of my best friends, Nancy Andrews, will be taking over for me.  She was the first friend I made after moving into the Lancaster Stake over 30 years ago.  I jokingly tell her that she taught me everything I know since I served under her as a counselor in the Quartz Hill Ward Primary approximately 29 years ago.  I am sad to see this chapter of my life end, but I knew that this had to happen sometime.  I have graciously passed the baton knowing that my "baby" is in good hands with Nancy.  I met with her this morning and showed her how it is all done.  I know she will love the calling as much as I did.

What will I miss about summer?

Summer is not my favorite season here in the desert. It is too hot and windy and we seldom get any rain so it is very dry. However, in spite of that, there is one thing I will miss when the weather turns cooler.....relaxing in the pool.  There is nothing quite like it, especially after a long stressful week. 

  

By the way, I first have to workout in the pool before I allow myself to relax like this. Swimming is a great way to get some exercise.  It is low impact and helps the cardiovascular system. I have found that the best thing about exercising in the pool, however, is that you don't know you are sweating. : )

Passing The Taste Test

Last Tuesday evening at Mutual the YM put on a joint activity entitled "Your Momma don't live here any more." Interesting title, and actually it was an interesting activity. To begin with they had some relay races performing tasks that the youth will have to do once they leave home, i.e.: ironing, making a bed, and cleaning bathrooms. The last task was a contest to make the best grilled cheese sandwich. We leaders had brought a variety of items for making the sandwiches like different kinds of bread, different kinds of cheeses, bacon, mac & cheese, hot dogs, ham, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. We got pretty creative with our sandwiches. One young man deep fried his, recoatted it with batter, and then deep fried it again. I didn't get to taste that one...I think he and his buddy ate it all by themselves. We had some interesting sandwiches, but the winning prize (actually there was no prize) went to ME! I made it the Stott way...with strawberry jam on top using sourdough bread, ham slice, and cheddar cheese. No judges were assigned to pick a winner, but the youth just commented on their favorite and mine won overwhelmingly. Before anyone tasted it they thought it was weird to put jam on top but everyone wanted to check it out. I explained that when I married Alan he wanted strawberry jam on his sandwiches so we just evolved to always doing it that way. Now grilled cheese sandwiches seem to plain to me without it. I think this story would make my mother-in-law proud! It definitely passed the youth taste test.