We have a new grandson

Julia had her baby boy this morning at 5:30 am. He weighed 5lbs, 14 oz and he 18" long. They have a couple of names picked out but want to see which one fits him best. He is a cutie! He looks like Brooklyn his older sister. He is healthy and strong and does not have to be in the NICU at all. This will be a first for Julia and Nathan to actually take the baby home with Julia and not have to have extra care. The 1 month of bed rest worked! We are heading out Sunday to go see them and spend some time getting to know the little guy. I will blog when his name is set and will send pictures later.
From proud grandma and grandpa Martindale :)

A historical day

Today is one of those historical days for our nation. I don't want to get all political on this post, I will say that today as we see a new President take office, I for one am praying for our new President and all those who will work with him to guide our country. And I hope he will do a good job. I have been very vocal to who ever would listen (although not on my posts) about how I feel politically and as a matter of fact I got in a very heated discussion last week with an old friend over my views. My friend and I are at the complete opposite ends of the spectrum of where we stand. We have the some of the same moral standards but view this new presidency completely different. So here is what I said to her. "I hope this new president does a good job". Regardless of your political views, why would you want any different? I hope it will be a good and safe "change" that we can count on. Again I pray for our leaders of our country and other countries! I love this country and want the best for it. Even though we disagree on things I believe we can all agree on that and come together to try to make it a strong nation. I hope we don't forget what our nation was based on in the beginning and I hope we will not forget God who gave us all that we have. We also can't forget all of those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedoms! Join with me and pray for our nation and our new President Barack Obama!

Facebook friends

I joined the Facebook world in November just for fun. I had heard a lot about it and a co-worker told me how many people she had found from the past and I thought I would give it a try. I did it all by myself and it was really easy... within a day I had 19 request to be friends. I didn't know what to do so I played with it and figured it out, thank goodness it is pretty user friendly. Anyway I have been looking for some high school friends. I found a few and contacted them. It was fun visiting with them but there are a couple that I wrote on their wall and I never got a response. It kind of makes me feel like I did with some people in high school maybe you know the feeling, don't they like me or want to talk to me. Or maybe they just learned how to use Facebook and don't know how to respond. One of the people I wrote to is a guy I grew up with, he was in my Ward for many years. I haven't seen him since I graduated and well... I won't tell how long that has been. But he didn't respond, why? I wonder. When he saw that I wrote did my picture scare him, I don't look like the 18 year old girl that he knew with long blond hair. Oh well!
Needless to say my friend pool has grown and most of them are people in Arkansas and that is OK and most of them are much younger than I am... guess I can say that about the blogs too. But I have noticed that more people my age are catching on and joining. I think some of my kids wanted to die when they found out that their mom was on Facebook. Celeste laughed at me tonight when she saw I was checking out my profile. I asked her, "why is that funny" she didn't respond she just laughed. One of my Institute students told me she thought it was OK that I was on Facebook but she didn't like it when her mom got on it. I laughed cause I am sure my kids felt the same way.
I like it... and I will continue! My problem now is how do you find girls when you don't know their married names? And is it inappropriate to write to guys you knew that were friends? I don't want to look like a stalker. Any comments or suggestions?

Inspiring Obituary, wierd I know!

I know this is weird, 2 posts in one day but had to share. I was looking in the Utah Obituaries (my great uncle died and was looking for his obituary) and came across this Obituary of a guy I don't know but I thought it was very inspiring and very well written and it had a real "feel good" touch to it. It started with his name and date of birth - date of death, then said this: "When you die your headstone has the date of birth and the date you died. But what is most important is the dash - in the middle". It is what you do with your life that counts, and apparently this guy thought life was great and lived it to the fullest. It also said that one of his favorite saying was "It's not whether you can survive the storm, but rather whether you can dance in the rain". You can bet this guy had a lot of love of family and friends with an attitude like that.
I took the sayings and put them at my desk so I could look at them all the time to help me remember them. I put it along side a couple of others that inspire me, I will share those too. "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want" and "Brick walls are there for a reason, it shows how badly you want something". They were said by a professor that was dying of cancer and had a family and became very well know because of his positive attitude (I can't remember his name).
I know enough about the dying guys right? But sometimes we learn from how others lived their lives and how they died. Both of these men apparently suffered with a sickness and they endured to the end well. The poor guys didn't know that their obituaries inspired some lady in Arkansas who needed a little lift.
Anyway life is good and I am happy that I am here to live it!!! Now back to work with a smile! (Besides it is Friday)

Puzzles, are they a waste of time?

Every year during the holidays we break out a puzzle for the family to work on. It has been a tradition for many years and this year was no exception. We were in California for Christmas and Joe and Celeste were staying at our house and when I called home she informed me that she broke out a puzzle to work on. It was one that a friend gave me last year that was reserved for this years holiday entertainment. Celeste and Melanie worked on it and finished it the day we returned. Celeste was so proud to show us the finished product. Well I wanted to do one and she wouldn't hear of putting the same one together again so we took it apart and did one that I bought in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Olympics. (Oh did I mention these are 1000 piece and not real easy)! We sat down and worked on it together, Celeste lost interest and Doug and I finished the dumb thing in a couple of days which happened to be my birthday. Joe & Celeste decided we hadn't had enough puzzle time and they gave me another one for "my Birthday". Joe was proud that he picked it out. It came in a small box, but it had 1500 pieces and it was a picture of colorful hot air balloons in front of a lake. So you had a reflection of everything and it was hard! We finished that dumb thing last night and here is the thing, we worked on it every waking hour that we were not working or sleeping (and it cut into the sleeping time). It is like an obsession like there is a time limit to get it done. Is is a waste of time? My friend Kathleen tells me that it keeps the brain active and helps prevent Alzheimer's. Well that helped knowing that we were contributing to our mental health in a positive way... but really how many hours did I waste? Have you ever watch how people put puzzles together? There are the people like Doug who zone in on a spot and study the color, the shape, and then look and look until they find "the piece" and then pop it right in (which is a real talent and it amazes me) and then there are people like me (who drive others crazy) I look at the color find a piece and start trying the piece all over the space (now I will say that I do consider the shape as well but I have to be moving and trying ya never know unless you try). Both ways get the job done but it seems that the first is more brain usage. Anyway I will say I possibly wasted more time in the last 2 weeks but I had fun! The question is... how long before I will sit and look at it completed until I take it apart and stick it back in the box knowing how much time was put into it. I guess I can look at it this way, Doug and I were together along with Celeste and Joe to get it completed and the TV wasn't even on, that is good family time, right? I will take it down in a couple of days and look forward to wasting more time next year.

Movies at the theatre

I don't go to the movies at the theatre very much, we usually rent movies and watch them at home snuggled up on the couch with some goodies to munch on, feet propped up and the remote in hand. It seems like an ideal date and there is no one to bother us. You can stop the movie when you need to or just turn it off if you don't like it and it is cheaper. OK I will say that the screen isn't as large but that is not a real big deal to me. And now I feel even stronger about renting after going to the theatre, here is why.
We went to see Marley & Me on Sat. Paid $9 to get in and had to find our seats in the dark ( it was about 15 minutes before the show started) we sat on the second row to the back where no one else was sitting. And waited for the movie to start... just as it started, people came in and of course they wanted to sit on our row, we got up so they could get in, people came and sat behind us, but wait that isn't all... they had the popcorn, lots of popcorn. They chomped on that stuff for more than half the movie. The guy that sat right behind Doug was Very large and he had a problem sitting in his seat, so he leaned forward the whole time and was right in our space. He felt the need to narrate the movie. Example " Oh he is going to tear that couch up! or Oh no not a good idea! Then he would throw his head back and laugh so loud that you could hardly hear the movie. I actually laughed more at him a couple of times than at what I was watching on the screen. He calmed down some at the end of the movie and at the saddest part (the end) he got up and left before the movie was over. OK I will admit that we should have gone to Little Rock to one of the nicer places, but who wants to drive 40 minutes one way to see a movie besides we were meeting Joe & Celeste for dinner in Conway. (which was a lot of fun)
I will say that I did like the movie, the book was better though. There were people in the room with little children and there were some things in the movie that were inappropriate for them to see or hear. Why do they have to put that kind or stuff in movies? But it was a feel good movie, and yes I cried a lot! Doug went with me and he wasn't so moved by it, but he was a good sport.
We will continue to rent instead of going to the theatres!

Happy New Years

I would like to wish all our family and friends a very Happy New Year. We started the new years eve off well with friends. We had a progressive dinner with a few couples. We met for at each couples house for food and finished it off at the 5th and final house for games (played guys against the girls and it got heated) and snacks and then watched the ball drop. It was a lot of fun and I believe we started a tradition for the years to come.
I have sat at home and relaxed since then. It has been nice. I slept in for 3 days and just did whatever I wanted to. I felt some guilt but my friend Kathleen assures me that there is not guilt in relaxing and I believe her.
Today I am one year older... not really a huge thing to celebrate but I guess it is better than the alternative. I plan on seeing Marley and Me this afternoon and grab a bite to eat and just relax again. After tomorrow it all starts back up. Work, Institute, just life. So for today I am just going to enjoy the New Year and a new day.