RACK, Days 2-10

Wow!  What a week!  This week started out terribly.  On Monday morning I was about to leave for work.  As I was grabbing my phone and chapstick (essentials for a day away from home!) I noticed that there was a mouse sitting at the foot of my bed.  I could not believe my eyes!  I thought this was trick - perhaps it was a sock and a piece of thread or yarn that only LOOKED like a mouse.  But no, a mouse it was!  After a few moments of shock and disbelief I realized that I was still standing on the floor, where said mouse was also standing.  I screamed, jumped up on the bed, and started to really panic.  I was now trapped on my bed, needing to leave for work.  There was a horrible little mouse in MY ROOM, of all places!!!  Where would it go?  What would it do?  And, the phrase I dislike so much in connection with mice ran through my mind over and over again: where there is one, there are many.  Needless to say there was more screaming, crying, and leaping across bedroom furniture to escape the mouse.


This really threw me off my groove, so some of my RACK's did not happen until later in the week, but they were all great, and I want to share them.  Here goes....


Day 2
I was shopping at a local store and decided that the clerk who was checking me out deserved to have some chocolate, and not just any chocolate.  She needed something rich and smooth and more expensive.  So, I bought one of the more expensive bars at the check-out.  She bagged everything and wished me a good night.  I pulled out that little bar of deliciousness and said "This is for you.  You can eat it on your break - Merry Christmas!"  She smiled and told me it was nice of me to do, and set that lovely bar of chocolate aside for a quiet moment alone when she could relax.


Day 3
I paid my little MorMor a surprise visit.  She is so old and tiny - I can actually pick her up in my arms like someone picks up a small child, or to carry their bride across the threshold.  She is not hearing too well these days and her memory is not so good and she really just want to go be with my grandpa.  Well, I visited with her for a short time - she smiled.  I kissed her soft, wrinkled cheek and told her I love her.  She smiled her beautiful yet tired smile and said "And I love you, and I love you more than you love me."  We did this several times - it's always hard for me to leave, so we say many goodbyes.  That is a Ludlow tradition - long goodbyes!


Day 4
I am kind of a shy person in certain situations.  The ward, or I should say rather the branch that I attend is HUGE - there are approximately 600 members, and that's not counting all the visitors that attend.  So, sometimes I get nervous and shy with all these people, pull inside of myself and don't really talk to anyone.  I know this is a weakness that I have been working on for a long, long time.  I have come a long way - but still I have miles to go.  I decided that it would be a good goal for me, and would hopefully cheer some strangers if I wished at least five people a Merry Christmas.  So, I did.  I don't know if it helped any of them, but it did make me feel happier, just to smile and say those lovely words "Merry Christmas!" AND, I reached my goal !  It's those little successes that lead to the big ones.


Day 5
This was the dreaded day of the mouse.  It was hard on this day to take care of my RACK.  I was so wrapped up in the mouse and the fear of more, buying all kinds of traps and other means to deter any more furry friends from coming to my lovely home and especially my room.  So, this day ended with me allowing others to give service to me.  I really don't like to be a bother to others.  I try to take care of myself and not be a burden.  But, when it comes to mice this is really hard.  When at the store buying mice removal paraphernalia, I get an upset stomach and cringe that I have to touch the packages of traps and what not.  I hate the little pictures of mice on the packages.  Ugh!  It's so...so...disgusting!  So, I had to allow two people to help me out.  First, my amazing mom!  She came over later that morning and helped remove the mouse - it had died, right there in my room on my lovely "Daughters in my Kingdom" book.  Now, I am grateful that it died (I'm guessing he must have eaten some poison from the deep dark crawl space where he may have entered the house).  If the mouse was still alive it would be crawling all over my house and scaring me as it scurried and darted about.  But, even a dead mouse is scary, so my mom, who hates them almost as much as me, came over and removed the offending dead mouse.  What a lady!  She truly is amazing and I love her!  After buying all my traps I couldn't set them up.  Like I said earlier, I hate touching the packages of traps and I hate bothering people.  So, it was really hard for me to let a friend come over and set all the traps for me.  I was very grateful though, and so far no mice have been caught.  I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  Are the mice just really smart and avoiding the traps? Or are there really no more mice?  I hope its the latter.  From this not so lovely experience I learned that sometimes you need to sacrifice and allow others to sacrifice for you.


Day 6
I think the mouse situation threw me off my groove.  I was so worried about the mouse and it's possible remaining family members that I didn't think much about serving.  I will make it up though!!


Day 7
I made some delicious treats that are a tradition in my family and that we have not had time to make for a long, long time.  The plan is to take them to family and friend on another day.  I made chocolate crinkles and walnut crescents.  They are super delicious and make me feel like Christmas. The thing about these two recipes is that the dough must chill for 3-4 hours or overnight, so the rest of this service will need to be done tomorrow.


Day 8
I made some delicious treats that are a tradition in my family and that we have not had time to make for a long, long time.  I packaged up the little treats and took a box to my mom and one to my MorMor (grandmother in Danish).  My mom was delighted, and she began to cry.  We decided that we need to have a special day of baking in the next week or so, and make all the yummy goodies that we used to make when my siblings and I were small.  It will be super fun!


Day 9
This day marked two RACK's .  One, I made a goodie box of those aforementioned treats from my childhood and left it on the doorstep of a friend and his family.  I hope they enjoy!  Secondly, I went to a winter holiday dance that my roommate's 6th graders were putting on to raise money to buy winter gear for children in need.  The dance was hilariously funny!  Just imagine 11 year old boys and girls dancing to hip hop and techno music and doing "The Shuffle".  It's something like "The Running Man".  Anyway, I donated a hat, scarf, and six pair of gloves to the cause.  The kids ended up raising $105 to use towards the purchase of more gear.  Good job!

Day 10
Today I will help my mom decorate her tree.  She is feeling a little lonesome and melancholy I think.  All her kids are grown, and Christmas is just a little different without little children around all the time.  ***I am back!  I helped set up and decorate her tree.  I brought in all her boxes of Christmas decor so that she can set things up at her leisure.  She was really happy and appreciated my help.  The tree is lovely!  One thing my mom loves to do is sit in the dark with the Christmas tree lights on.  She enjoys looking at the lights and thinking about the past year, all the good, the bad, mostly the good and think about the new year coming and the hopes, dreams, and goals that she has for the future.  Now, she will get to continue that tradition this year :)