Stuff to do during General Conference weekend

Yes sisters, it's here again. The semi-annual LDS event where we extend a hand of fellowship to the 7th day Adventists by going to church on Saturday as well as Sunday. It's a great time to mark the changing seasons, prep for winter, and get into family squabbles. Come on then, this only happens once every six months! Get a move on!

My checklist includes:

* Hook internet up to comm system, blast lds.org over speakers.

* Grab Bug-out-bags, Get-home-bag, Stay-put-bag, and other such kits. Dump contents out on living room floor. Engage in traditional orgy of eating all the perishables. Get new perishables. Pack everything back up.

* Sharpen all knives, test all batteries, dump & fill drinking water cistern.

* Rotate or sta-bil gas and diesel storage. Check kerosene and propane storage. Locate and check seals on buried hoard.

* Test GetOutOfDodge plan after Sat session: April conference: retreat 1. October conference: backup retreat.

* After the talk on family togetherness, argue about getting along.

* Inventory food storage. Berate husband for not cooking more. Make husband clean up broken bottle of cannery salsa accidentally thrown at his stupid fat head.

* Vaccum LP/OP.

* Demand budget from husband to wallpaper gun room with that pink floral pattern I saw at Lowes.

* Switch landmines from summer-soil triggers to winter-soil triggers.

* Sit on the front porch during sessions and play the gunowner's version of the drinking game.

- Shoot target every time you hear "brothers and sisters", "endure", and "pornography".
- Empty clip vigorously every time a female voice says "precious", "virtuous", "lives of meaning and fulfilment", or "backrub".
- Swear loudly every time a female voice says "support", "encourage", "husband", or "his needs".
- Go full auto when you hear "debt", "self-reliance", "safe home environment", "defend against", or any mention of armed conflict.
- In the unlikely event they pull out the Brigham Young quotes about sending the enemy to hell cross-lots or women carrying a gun, or that Joseph Smith quote about people not defending their families being cowards and bastards, you can toss a grenade or fire the bazooka.

Provident living

From the church's new(ish) Family Home Storage pamphlet:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance,
for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.

Out here in the fairly-remote windswept hinterlands, the soil ain't that good. Infuriating hubby keeps wrinkling his nose at obtaining cashmere goats for the yarn. The zoning board ruled against our ammunition factory. So we gather what we can.

Harmony

We have a duty to share the Gospel.
My hubby has a duty to keep annoying people the heck away from me.
Why not kill two birds with one stone?

I don't want any part of it.

I had my fill of melodramatic stories of popular icons, after reading the Howard Hughes biography. So forgive me if I pass on the next decade's worth of MJ's heirs suing each other, book deals from those who knew him best, fictionalized bios, unauthorized bios, authorized bios, "where are they now" stories of his neverland kids, and social commentary from every angle wrapped up as a story about MJ. (Yes, I realize this post is an example of that last one. Bite me.)

I guess I should be glad that MJ will steal some of Elvis' thunder in the sightings and cheap artwork departments. But his litigious heirs and designates have a hundred years of learning on how to cash in, so we're gonna get re-deluged with MJ pink flannel nightwear, tacky battery powered dancing Santas who shake their booties to Billie Jean, counter-culture anti-MJ comic books, and Thriller brand Haloween makeup. Drop the Grace and add the Never - heck, it better fits the worldview anyway. I do not intend to partake.

At least there were evil conspiring Mormons in the Hughes bio.

Happy Earth Day!

What better way to celebrate the blessed event of earth day, than to sit around and discuss gospel topics with some of the Relief Society sisters.



We're a pretty diverse bunch, with opinions all over the spectrum. Like when we were talking about which Book of Mormon character we'd like to be married to. Shauna-Mae of course picked the Stripling Warriors. Any of the Stripling Warriors. Possibly more than one. (We told her polygamy didn't work that way.)

Tina and her mom both said no way, look at who these guys' parents were. Men come with in-laws, and those people were extreme liberals.

...they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth. ...rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give up their own lives;

I mean seriously - how many medicinal marijuana prescriptions did these people run through to come up with that grand plan? News flash for the people arguing over Book of Mormon geography - this event obviously happened in California! Gee - I wonder what becomes of these people? We do find out. Not in the next book, not a few chapters later, but THREE FRIGGIN VERSES LATER!

...the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword. And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a thousand and five of them.

Well duh. You didn't need a seer-stone to see that one a'coming.

But they didn't all die though. Apparently some of them were off voting for Obama or getting same-sex married to each other in Vermont or something. Anyway, there were enough strait survivors to give birth to the stripling warriors.

I said I'd rather be married to one of the attacking Lamanites. I could have given my hubby the day off and used those peacenicks for target practice. I have a hard time getting enough range time anyway, what with homeschoolin' the two rugrats and keeping house and all.

Then we all went out back and properly celebrated Earth Day by plinking away at caffiene-free diet soda cans stacked up on the pasture fence. I was kickin' butt until the county Sheriff showed up. Stupid neighbors - don't they know anything about free exercise of religion?

[Message sent from Aimee's Blackberry from the back of Ralph's squad car while he argues with the Chief about wether or not he should bring me in again.]