Crazy Times Scrapbook, March 2023

 My anxiety ran high for a while in March because of the two big bank collapses. I was afraid the whole banking system was going to crash in the weeks following, and I'm so grateful that it hasn't. I think that could still be coming, but for now, I'll hope for the best and prepare for the worst, which is my general philosophy when it comes to emergency preparation and planning.

I love that Woody Harrelson did this--and on SNL of all places! 😆 

Good for him for standing up for what a lot of people believe. That's the Haymitch I know and love from The Hunger Games!

"Conspiracy theorists" aren't right about everything, but we turn out to be right about a lot of things...

 

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"...even the most pro-vax publications cannot hide the non-Covid excess mortality of the past years."

+ Read the rest of that paragraph...

This is outrageous and should be huge news in the likely event that it's true.

Fox News is crazy to let Tucker go, by the way. The news just broke today and I can't believe they did that. He's by far the best thing Fox News has. Or had. He's also my TV husband, so seriously, what the heck? (We have the same last name; a girl can dream 😁.) Why do they let go of their most talented people who tell it like is? (Tucker, Glenn Beck, Megyn Kelly, etc.)

Victor Davis Hanson is so measured and intelligent. He's one of my favorite commentators. I think there's a lot of wisdom and truth in his opinion pieces.

This should also be huge news in the likely event that it's true. This is definitely not over, especially if Biden makes the truly ridiculous choice to run for president again.

Not the most encouraging news when you're preparing to put your house on the market! 

Outrageous if true (which again, I believe is more likely than not).

Selfie-Worthy

 John brought home a Dairy Queen Blizzard cup that said "Selfie-Worthy" and I thought, I can use that for my selfies posts! 😆 #inspirationfromacup 🤷

Rocking my pearl hoop earrings 😄

Funny shadows on my face from the lights...

...but better here!

Last selfie with Bentwood. 💔 He only had a few weeks left. I'm so glad I took this picture. It's the most "selfie-worthy" of all.

I was having a good hair and makeup day whilst wearing my British soldiers sweater. It's one of my favorites!

Someday, SOMEDAY, I'll get to London and see them for myself!

This is my favorite house sweater.

The overhead light in the family room isn't flattering, but oh well.

The Temple Throughout March

 I started and ended March at the temple on the first and last days of the month, and I was there another two times in the middle. Two of the times were for my shifts as a temple worker, one was for a ward temple night, and the last one, on the last day of the month, was for my own visit there for a much-needed respite from a turbulent week/month/year/several years (I had finally gotten divorced earlier that week). Truly, the temple punctuates my life in all of the best ways amidst both the lulls and the storms of life. 

There was snow on the ground on March 1st.

I'm usually only at the temple in the evenings for ward trips, and I'll always appreciate the symbolic contrast of the light of the temple in the darkness of night.

Note the mostly melted snow. It was only a week after the first picture. That's March for you!

This was on March 31st, the last day before the temple closed for most of April for maintenance work. As you can see, the work had already gotten started in the front. I think they were replacing the spire, among other things. 

Tomorrow the temple re-opens, and I've made an appointment to go next week. I've missed my "home away from home" this month, where I feel closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus more than anywhere else on earth. I've written on here before about how the temple and my temple covenants have blessed my life, especially with the difficulties of a brutal divorce process and all that goes along with that over the last few years. Now that that particular trial is over, my attendance and participation at the temple will in no way decrease. This is now an established "holy habit" and "righteous routine" in my life. I will continue to need the strength, power, and divine guidance it gives me no matter what is (or isn't) happening in my life. 

President Nelson said this at last fall's General Conference: 

I believe that really special things are happening and are going to happen at the temples of the Lord all around the world as we prepare for His imminent return to the earth and His reign here thereafter. I'm excited for that, and I'll be ready and prepared for it.

Around the House in March

Here's Sam READING A BOOK instead of being on screens! 

We watched The Maze Runner movies this spring and he liked them and read the books in between the movies. We already had the trilogy on our bookshelves; I had read it myself years ago. Like me, he enjoys dystopian fiction. I'm trying to get him to read The Hunger Games next because he liked those movies even more than The Maze Runner.

Ever since last fall, I've been working on de-cluttering my house in preparation for selling, moving, and downsizing. These are some of the things I went through and sold last month:

A music stand from when John started trombone in elementary school. It hadn't been used in years.

Maternity clothes! I kept a bin of my favorites and sold the rest.

They filled two bags!

My mom and I reassembled the boys' changing table and it cleaned up nicely. I had held on to it hoping to have another baby, but c'est la vie. It sold quickly. It was in really good shape for being over 18 years old!

The toddler bed, on the other hand, was a lost cause. It was such a cute bed, but we couldn't get it put back together successfully, and it wasn't worth the time or money trying to track down the correct allen wrench and screws, so it ended up going to one of my uncles for firewood. 😕

Reading again! He really does like reading; those dang screens just get in the way of it so much. I'm so glad that screens (in the form of smartphones and iPads and the like) didn't exist when I was his age.

An ice cream sundae on a Sunday evening...

I made sure to snap some pictures of Bentwood at the water bowl and around the house at the end of the month. I knew he didn't have a lot of time left--the vet had diagnosed him with advanced lymphoma a few weeks earlier--so I cherished his presence around the house more than usual and didn't take it for granted. 

He passed away peacefully and naturally at home ten days ago on Easter. I held him in my arms several times that weekend as I sadly watched the life slowly ebb out of him as his body shut down. He was the sweetest cat. He was part of our family for 18 years. I still had my dog from high school when we got Bentwood. I miss his gentle, sweet, comforting presence in the house. It's not the same without him. I know I'll see him again and that he's in a good place, but I miss him and I mourn his loss. 🤍