Some days are diamonds and some days are dust . . .

  

Have you ever had one of those days?  Yesterday was one of those days for me.  We had been going to go to the Temple, but ended up not going.  It was dull and overcast out and looked like rain.  I am not fond of being in the car when the weather is great, never mind when it is raining, and I am an especially bad passenger on longer journeys and so we put off the Temple for another time.

 

One of the grandsons has a birthday coming up in just a couple of weeks, so I wrapped his gift up and we went to the Post Office to post it.  The postage came to more than the gift cost, but that's okay.  Its worth it in my opinion.  I just wish I could be there to see his little face light up, but meh . . .  that's life.

Todd was unable to pay using the pin option on his card for some reason.  It's one of those wave and pay cards also, so he just waved and paid.  (I am not a fan of wave and pay at all.)  I needed to pick up some makeup and so we went to Boots.  Again I tried to use the card.  It was rejected.  I started thinking something must be really wrong and so I used my Canadian card. (Not a fan of that either!)  Then I needed a new pair of knitting needles and some cotton yarn for a project and so we went to Hobbycraft.  Todd normally sits in the car while I shop til I drop at Hobbycraft, but I made him come in with me.   Once again, the card was rejected and so we had to wave and pay, which worked.  I said to Todd, you probably should go into town and check this out.  I don't want a wave and pay card thingie.  It's too easy for someone to steal your money if you lose your card.

And so we went home and Todd went into town to see what was up with the card.  It's a good thing he did.

 

It turned out the chip was broken so he had to order a new card.  I hope it doesn't come with that wave and pay option . . .  the cashier also brought it to his attention that a payment request had come through from our car insurance company for £145 which they were going to have to send back for insufficient funds.   What???   Todd dashed home to see what was up.

Our car insurance was recently transferred from Green Insurance which became Quick Fit Insurance, we knew that.  What we didn't know was that the monthly premiums were going to more than triple!  This was disaster.  We live on a very limited income and there is no way we could afford that.  Our bank account runs on a very delicate balance from one week to the next . . . there is no room for error.  So Todd got on the telephone with the Car Insurance co.  Now that is an exercise in frustration.  They all had very thick Scottish accents.  To make a long story short we cancelled our car insurance with them.  They tried to demand a payment right yesterday for our cancelling it, but Todd complained about that a LOT, and in the end they said they would not take it  Phew!

We then started shopping around for a cheaper price, which we found through Tesco, but it won't kick in until midnight on Monday and so we effectively cannot drive the car now until then, which makes us housebound for the next few days.  No Missionary work, no service project today, no church tomorrow, no nothing . . .  sigh  . . . which wouldn't really be a problem if we only had "us" to worry about, but alas, we have others who depend on us being able to get them to church and so now we had to scurry around trying to find lifts for them, which isn't easy as cars going from Chester to the chapel are very low on the ground, but I think we have managed to do that.

  

I started to get us some supper and Todd walked Mitzie while I was doing that.   She always barrels back into the house like a gun shot after her afternoon walk . . .  expecting her own dinner to be ready.  It was.   Todd was happy we were having pork chops.  He likes pork chops.  I topped them with some stuffing this time and we had mashed sweet potatoes and peas with them.  I always just roast my sweet potatoes in the skins in the oven and then slip them out and mash them.  They taste really, really good done that way.  You don't need to add anything to them.  They're delicious just the way they are, as God intended.   Mitzie had some sweet potatoes and peas with her rice and chicken.  She was a very happy camper as well.



 We watched some telly and I got my latest project more than half finished.  I am knitting a dishcloth . . .  I think I might even end up with two or three by the time I am finished.   They don't have nice cotton yarn over here like the stuff from back home.  I miss the cotton yarn from back home.  Its bright and pretty and comes in lovely colours, alot of them being variegated.   sigh . . .

Then I had a message from my sister on FB and I started to chat with her on the iPad message thingie, which left me feeling very sad



Family stuff, and it dregged up all of the feelings of hurt and anger I have from past dealings with people that I thought I had dealt with, but it turns out I hadn't really dealt with them at all . . .  because those things and those people still have the power to hurt me and they shouldn't.  I have tried really hard to forgive certain people and put the past where it belongs . . . in the past . . .  but every once in a while it jumps back up to bite me and I end up feeling the way I have always felt about these things . . .  and I feel angry and hurt all over again and I don't feel very forgiving at all . . . and I feel very sad about that . . . I don't want to have those feelings and I don't want to be unforgiving, or angry . . .

And so my very frustrating day ended up in tears . . . .  warm, big . . .  soppy, wet tears that rolled unbidden down my cheeks and which made my heart ache.  I could not let the day end like that  . . .

And so I did the only thing I could do, I turned it all over to God . . . I ended the day with the words of this talk by President Uchtdorf playing in my ears . . .  I just plugged my ear phones into the iPad and listened to it while I fell asleep . . .

It's a talk from the latest General Conference, entitled "He will Place You On His Shoulders and Carry You Home".  And it's good.  It brought me some peace.

"It matters not how completely ruined our lives may seem. It matters not how scarlet our sins, how deep our bitterness, how lonely, abandoned, or broken our hearts may be. Even those who are without hope, who live in despair, who have betrayed trust, surrendered their integrity, or turned away from God can be rebuilt. Save those rare sons of perdition, there is no life so shattered that it cannot be restored."

 

And so here I am today  . . .  and it's a new day, and a day that I can use to be better and to do better . . . and yes, to have joy.   I am a much better person than the sum of all of my worst moments, and a priceless gem in my Heavenly Father's crown.  If other people don't feel that way . . .  then it's their problem.   "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can . . .  and the wisdom to know the difference."

Everything else is just icing.

This too . . .  shall pass.



In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Small Batch Maple Glazed Black Pepper Scones.  Oh boy but these are some good!

Have a wonderful Saturday.  The sun is shining here.  Whatever you get up to, don't forget  . . .

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And I do too!




PS - On the plus side I almost forgot to mention that The English Kitchen has been nominated for a Boom Award 2016.  It's an honor just to be nominated.  Not sure what I did to deserve the nomination, but I'll take it!