Just too tired to blog last night. If was on and off cloudy and rainy yesterday. Both Rick and I were really getting bored with this stuff. Today, Saturday it has been absolutely glorious. Beautiful blue skies and the sun is shining. Slept in late (almost 9:30) then spent most of the morning and early afternoon cleaning. Tackled a few larger projects because I had Rick to help. Typical Saturday type chores. Spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool, it was wonderful. I'm up to teach in R.S. tomorrow, so I gotta finish up my preparations.

Maybe I shouldn't blog tonight, having a real blah day. Rain and more rain, Rick was able to work today, but just to check on the project. Tomorrow he has a meeting with the contractor, so I guess he will be counted as working even if it keeps raining (the forecast says it will). There is a lot of flooding and erosion on the island. We went out earlier this evening and in many places the road are just barely passable and in others running like rivers. Now there is a danger of mud slides. It's kind of hard to be motivated and I'm getting a little cabin fever.

Still on this returning to school thing and it's really getting frustrating. I'm going to have to walk away from it for a few days and see what happens. Praying for some direction. I have always told my children and others that you can never have too much education and we should always keep learning, but maybe it's just not my time for more "formal" education. Don't want to "jump off a cliff" on this and be sorry.

Talked to Rachel for a short time this evening and it sounds if she's getting things squared away with her doctors on this diabetes thing. Now they are having trouble with a neighbor complaining about their dogs. I really wish people could just leave her alone and let her have this baby in peace, this hassle is the last thing she needs right now.

It seems that most people are only concerned about their own immediate wants and needs and don't look into the lives of others and take a minute to see, if maybe, they aren't doing the best that they can, at that particular moment. Some things are so easy to work out if your dealing with rational thinking human beings. It makes me wonder what is happening to the human race. Nobody wants to consider what the other guy might be going through. People are so quick to sue someone or bring on other legal charges instead of trying to work things out. It seems the whole world is getting frustrated with the general "state of things" and they are bound and determined to take it out on each other. Hasn't anyone thought about the possibility that maybe we could all work together to make "everything" better. As the economy and general feeling of security seems to be slipping through the fingers of our society, our society is slipping into the abyss of selfish petty grievances, against their neighbors. Wake up people, we are really in a "you go, we all go" situation here. Like it or not, we are the "brotherhood of man", meaning we are all brothers and sisters and if we don't pull together, all just might be lost. Sadly, it is generally the very people that you hope would know better, who are at the heart of the problems.

Makes me reflect on how I handle things and how I look at others and how I do or do not judge them. I recently got myself into some trouble by over expressing my feelings to people I really didn't know as well as I thought. I should have know better. There are so many things that Rick and I discuss, when we are "solving the problems of the world", that are really only our opinions, and those opinions being based on limited knowledge, that we promise each other, we would never say to others. Then when I go and say these things to others, especially people who don't know me well and love me, boy oh boy, do I ever put my foot in my mouth and sometimes get into real trouble. I certainly hope I don't look like that guy with the selfish petty grievances, who is just trying to feather my own nest. I have really got to get better at this. I have really got to get better period!

My hope and prayer tonight is that Rachel can find a peaceful and happy solution to this trouble with her neighbor. I hope her neighbor will look at her life's situation, of the moment, and think about how he would want his wife or daughter to be treated. I really can only pray for the both of them and hope that they will feel the Spirit motivating them each toward a peaceful solution.

It's not even 9:00PM and I'm exhausted, it must be all the thinking, I haven't done much else today.

It rained almost all day today. We had approximately two 30 minute breaks, during the second one, I put my suit on and went down to the pool. I'm not as nuts as this sounds, I actually work out in the pool and if I don't work out for two consecutive days, I'm so stiff, it's hard to move. I do feel better. Back to the rain, we are in the draw of what has just become Tropical Storm Otto, it's really not going to affect us other than to drag all this moisture up and onto us. Rick and I drove up to his job site this afternoon, in what we thought was one of the rain breaks (actually we were barely out of our condo parking lot when it began to pour again) and the roads on the east end of St. Croix are all flooded. After we came home and watched the news, we learned that the schools and some government offices were closed today due to the flooding, guess it was even worse than we thought.

Because I was stuck in the house all day, I figured it would be a good time to pursue my recent distraction of returning to school. This whole online degree thing is really kicking my butt. The University web sites aren't that easy to navigate and once you get into their online programs, you have to practically be signed up for the course before they give you the prerequisites and the costs. Holy cow, is it ever expensive! Also, they all want you to sign right up as a full time student and commit to going on through and getting your degree within a specified time, of course, they want you to commit financially too. There is a part of me that understands the logic to this, after all I am one of "those students" who is currently on the 40 year plan, and still doesn't have a degree. But after all this time I really need to ease into this thing and I really need to pay as I go and not incur debt, particularly when you figure that at my age this really isn't about a career move.

Back to my best option, BYU. I can't sign into an online degree program with them, but I can take continuing education courses, for college credit. I'm thinking I'll sign up for one and see how I do and see if I can complete it within 8 to 10 weeks and not be completely nuts. If this works out I'll sign up for another one or maybe even two at a time and see how it goes. If I can accumulate 12 to 15 credits, I'll start talking to someone about a degree and see what we can work out. The three best things about BYU are: 1. I trust them. 2. They offer a wide range of courses, that are both general education and core classes. and 3. They are affordable. I really want to get on with this and not drop the ball, I'm afraid that if I don't do this now, I probably never will. Of course,leave it to me to finally decide, after I have left the country and live in the Caribbean.

Talked to Rachel today as she was on the way to a Dr's appointment regarding her diabetes, diet and insulin. The more information I get the less confidence I have in her doctors. This is definitely an area that needs more prayer and faith. I need to pray for her to be in the Lord's Hands, because her doctors seem to be pretty distracted.

Rain, rain go away! It has rained on and off (mostly on) since very early this morning. We have flash flood warnings and it's really cool and soggy. I couldn't make my workout in the pool today and that makes me grumpy. We have one "Tropical Wave" just about past us, but there is another in the western Atlantic on it's way into the Caribbean. Looks like we're gonna get a lot more soggy before this is over. Keep praying that they don't turn into anything more than the soggy mess they are now, we don't need no more Hurricanes.

Did spend the day doing paperwork, paying bills and looking into online degrees. I am seriously thinking about going back to college, again. Maybe the third time will be the charm. If Rick can land another job paying as well as this one, we really don't need me to work, but I need something stimulating to do. There is a lot of work to be done here in the Church, but that seems to be a slow process, therefore there is only so much you can do. Rick is encouraging me to consider school (he really doesn't want me to work outside the home) and I'm starting to think maybe it's time. So.....I spent the day exploring online options. I need and want to be able to go at my own pace and with some online Universities that is not an option (at least not an option that they encourage) and some of them are really expensive (another reason to go at my own pace and pay as I go) so far those are the two factors narrowing the field. Not surprisingly the best option so far seems to be BYU. I sent an inquiry to them today, so we'll see what happens. It's kind of exciting and scary to think about, all at the same time.

Started reading the New Testament recently. I decided to read it like I have the Book of Mormon recently, that's to say to read it like a novel(not just a chapter at a time). It is amazing how the stories come together when you are reading 5, 10 15 or 20 pages consecutively. It's amazing how visual it is to. Of course, all of these components have always been there, it's just becoming obvious to me. I'm still in the Gospels (Luke to be precise) and it is exciting to hear the Savior speak from the pages, it make it so real. I'll write more, I'm sure, as I go along and definitely when I finish. I do find that it helps to pray before I begin, each day (imagine that).

Keep praying for Rachel and her unborn baby, Mavis (not her real name, just the one I have made up so I have something to call her). This gestational diabetes has really thrown me for a loop. All I want is for both of them to be OK and to come through this unscathed. Prayer helps, I know, and for now it helps be to remain calm and know that Heavenly Father will watch over them.

Plain old boring Monday. Laundry, workout in the pool, start cleaning the house, cooking dinner, Family Home Evening (not so boring, actually fun) getting ready for bed. Of course, all of this takes place on the absolutely beautiful island of St. Croix. Four months later and I still can't believe I live here. Each morning I roll over and look our the patio doors at the Caribbean Sea, indescribably beautiful. I can't believe how blessed I am.

Reflecting today on General Conference talks of the past weekend. They were awesome, I can't wait to get next month's copy of the Liahona so I can read them again. How do these guys know exactly what I need to hear?

Well you know that saying, "the best intentions" and all that jazz. We had intended to go to the church to watch Conference with the other members this morning and didn't quite make it. I didn't feel well. I kept pushing and pushing trying to go until we finally decided it was a little silly, when we could just stay home and listen to it over the Internet. Sometimes I don't know when I just need to lay down.

Conference was really good (like it ever, isn't). It is so comforting to me. So much to absorb and ponder.

This weekend is General Conference. I was thinking how hard this would be for me because sitting for several hours is really uncomfortable, because of the problems with my right leg. I was thinking how in Idaho we could stay home and listen to General Conference or if you had TV you could watch it on TV. Here you would have to rely on broadcasts through the Church satellite system at the church. Then Rick said, we can listen to it on the Internet, just like we did in Idaho. DUH!!! Through LDS.org you can get the video or audio stream of Conference. This is exactly what we did last year(because in Idaho, although the local TV stations broadcast Conference, we didn't have TV). We don't have strong enough broadband to get the video signal but we got the audio just fine and were able to listen to Conference in the comfort of our own home, just like we did in Idaho. We do plan to go to the church tomorrow, just to be with the other members, I will probably only be able to last through the morning session (that's 2 hours) and then we can come home for the afternoon session. It was great! Looking forward to tomorrow. One of those little things that make living on St. Croix "not so different".

Last week Rick treated me to a movie. We went to see Eat, Pray, Love. My choice, I was curious. I had read the book and really didn't like it (go figure why I wanted to see the movie), but for the first time I can say this is a movie that was actually better than the book. Interesting perspective for me. Anyway, just wanted to get that in (I had kept forgetting to post this).

Worried about Rachel and the "gestational diabetes". She told me yesterday that she has to start taking insulin. I really feel bad for her. I know that this will go away as soon as the baby is born and there should be no lasting effects, but it would be really hard for me to deal with, not to mention having to give myself a shot every day. We are praying continually for her safety and good health, as well as that of "little Mavis:.