What Do I Want to Say, What Do I Want to Say...

First of all, thank you to my kamikaze friend who canned eleven bottles of peaches for me AND topped it off with a peach cobbler, which we snarfed down so quickly that it didn't even get its picture taken. It was one of those days where we both worked all day and skipped lunch, and then had to eat in a rush before heading off to a leadership meeting. 

She even wrote cute and funny notes on the lids, which I happened to miss when she dropped them off. She EVEN canned the peaches without sugar just for me!  

Poor Kawi. He just keeps screaming for C. I feel kind of bad for him, but would feel much worse if I didn't have a migraine coming on. I finally couldn't stand it anymore and put a towel over his cage. He got the message and settled down. Now he's just making cute noises and being friendly instead of being psycho-obsessed with his missing Peep. Other times he can just be sweet and cute, like when he's tearing apart the silk plant you can see in the background:

(Isn't his little foot funny waving around like that?)

The worst part was when we were outside on the hammock. One of our neighbors' homes sits higher than ours and someone visited them who looked like C. He was, after all, wearing a shirt and tie and C often does, especially on Sundays. Kawi whistled and belted out his very best cat-calls that he reserves just for his most beloved C. I just watched with a sad heart, knowing that whomever that man was, he wasn't getting the message.

Penelope was busily engaged doing all kinds of gymnastics, climbing upside down, and swinging on the broken hammock strands. I wish I had my camera. She put on a real show. She ventured up into the apple branches, purring contentedly as she climbed higher and higher. When it came time to go inside, she put up a fight, deciding that she had located a much more suitable home among the apple leaves than her metal cage. At last we packed it back inside before the evening chill set in on two little birds who had played long and hard outside.

Last night I went to Relief Society Meeting. The prophet Thomas S. Monson spoke, along with the female presidents of the organization. President Monson gave a beautiful talk that was so kind, so sweet, and so... needed. He discussed the need to be less judgmental of each other, especially as women, and that we need to infuse Charity into every aspect of our lives. It was the only time that I have sensed that the women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were being gently chastised. We need to be better overall, more gentle, more kind, more recognizant that each woman is doing her best. He gave some anecdotal stories, and loving, gentle counsel. If you are curious, here is a link to some of the highlights or you can watch the whole thing here.

On a similar note, if you want to hear what the prophet and twelve apostles and other leaders are teaching the world, we get to hear from them next weekend, starting on Saturday, ending on Sunday, for four two-hour blocks of time. I like to mention this because there are so many misconceptions about Mormons, so you can see for yourself if you'd like. One man on a plane this month told me some horrible, horrible things he has heard. I have such a hard time believing that people can think anything so terrible is true!

Anyway, if you want to, you can read what the prophet and twelve apostles are saying today, watch the conference through live streaming here next weekend, or you can visit the Mormon Messages channel on YouTube. There you have it, you have officially been invited.