Friday, February 27, 2009

Poor Porky Pig




I'm worried about Kristen. 
This is a conversation we had last week:


Kristen: Mom, I just had the most exciting day!
Me: What was so exciting about it? Did it involve free food?
Kristen: My awesome teacher brought visual aids to class.
Me: What kind of visual aids?
Kristen: A pig's heart and lungs!
Me: (silence)
Kristen: It was so cool!!!! I got to hold the heart and the lungs. 
Me: This was exciting?
Kristen: yes yes yes! It was so cool; the dead pig parts looked more "real" because they were from the butcher and they hadn't been in formaldehyde like a cadaver would be.
Me: (gagging) Why would your teacher bring pig parts?
Kristen:  So we could see how things actually work!!! We intubated the lungs and cut the heart in half!!! You could feel the arteries and vessels!!!
Me: How would you rate this with all of your other nursing school experiences in the past two years on a scale of 1-10?
Kristen: an eight or nine!!!!

This is a girl who needs to graduate and rejoin the real world. Yeah, I'm concerned...





Am I over-reacting?

Thursday, February 26, 2009

hugs

Give someone or everyone you love a big hug today. It matters. It really does.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Is it time for Cubic Zirconium?


Multiple choice question:

What is missing in the above picture? 
a. a cubic zirconium
b. a lump of coal
c.  a wad of bubblegum
d. a diamond

If you answered quickly and correctly (d.) then you are a regular reader of this blog. Or you are just unusually intelligent. I know this because this is the best picture I could get of my ring with out the diamond. If you squinch your eyes up real tight and stare like crazy, you can see where the rock used to be.

You say chip; I say rock. It hadn't sunk in that it is truly gone until today, when I went shopping and I started clicking my left hand ring finger on the handle of the shopping cart and the click was gone. I never realized how much I like clicking my finger. Sometimes it's the little things we take for granted and miss the most. Like my little diamond. 


Tuesday, February 24, 2009

I'M IT!!

Okay, apparently you go to something called a "folder" and once you find the "folders" you go to the sixth folder. Then you proceed to the 6th photo in the folder and tell all about it. It being the sixth picture in the sixth folder. (Sounds sort of like a religious rite or something.)

The picture above is actually the fourth photo in the second folder but it is a cool picture that Jake actually took in actual Nepal and those are real cobras and we used this picture in Wes' s Nepal report and it was the most exciting thing in his report (basically because of the REAL cobras) so I was going to pretend that this was the sixth of sixth. But then I thought that might bring a hex down upon us and who wants a hex? So here it is, the sixth photo from the sixth folder:

This is a picture of Jessie and her friend Erin, last spring, after their dance performance. 

Nowhere near as cool as a snake charmer with real cobras in actual Nepal; but they (Jessie and Erin) are way more pretty. Now I am not worried about a hex; just about what Jessie is going to say about me using this photo. 

Oh yeah, I get to TAG people now!!!! 

but, cept, um, uh, I don't know who to tag. Let me know if you want to be tagged, cause I will for sure TAG YOU!!!!!

**Rules***1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.2. Go to the 6th Folder and then pick the 6th Picture. 3. Post it on your bloggy and tell the story that goes with the picture. 4. Tag 5 other glorious peoples to do the same thing and leave a comment on their bloggy tellin’ them ’bout it.
I TAG...
**put your name here.**

Monday, February 23, 2009

Why Not to Clean


This post could be about Kristen and the fact that she goes to this church for the free food. 
But it's not. At least for now. 

So I am just chillaxin after a long day. Today I cleaned areas that haven't been looked at, let alone cleaned, since we moved into this house almost 4 years ago. Yikes. I dusted (if you can call it that) the top of the armoire. 4 years of dust. Yuck. I took apart the fan and gave it a good detail. I threw away a bunch of random things like baskets and candles and little stuffed bunnies (why do I have little stuffed bunnies in MY room?) and the like. I'm so over baskets, candles, fake flowers, ceramic figurines; basically anything whose main function is to attract dust. I put Laura, from Little House on the Prairie, in a box. I'm not going to throw her out...she is "Laura"  after all. Oh, I loved those books. When we go camping there is a tiny part of me who still pretends she is Laura. You don't have to tell me that's weird. I know. 

I cleaned out the humidifier. If I could invent the self-cleaning humidifier I would and I would be a rich woman. What is all that un-identifiable crusty gunk? But the good part is making my house smell like a swimming pool with all the bleach in the bathtub. Yum. I cleaned out the dirt cup thing in the vacuum cleaner twice. I love cleaning out that dirt cup. It's the best part of vacuuming. Not that there really is a "best" part of vacuuming, but if there were... Something about unlocking the little dirt holder and dumping it out and pulling out the filter and scraping and shaking the accumulation of dust off is oddly satisfying. I always want to vacuum it clean, but then I realize that what I want to vacuum IS the vacuum. What I really need is 2 vacuums in tandem. (That would be my 2nd idea for an invention in one day; how DO I come up with this stuff?)  (And how can I take these ideas and turn them into cash?)

I had 28 to be read books next to my bed; piled on, around, under, and next to my bedside table. Those are just the books: there were also a bunch of magazines and yet another cute, albeit dusty, bunny.  I shelved a few books, threw out the magazines (that was the hardest thing to do), and tossed the bunny. Then I stacked the 25 remaining books very symmetrically. They will stay that way for approximately 24 hours. 

All this before 2 p.m. I forgot to mention that Wes played fake sick today so he was kind of hanging around with me doing the fake sick thing. I have to pretend like I think he is sick, but he knows that I know that he isn't, and I know that he knows that I know he's not sick, but sometimes a kid just needs a day off. I think. 

But now, instead of reveling in my accomplishments I am not. Why? Two reasons: one, I am suffering either from food poisoning or something else that is causing my stomach to feel like it is doing jumping jacks inside my gut. Reason number two would be the fact that today I lost THE DIAMOND FROM MY WEDDING RING! And when I say THE, I mean the BIG one in the middle. (BIG in relation to the other teeny diamonds around it). And that is one want there is no turning into a need, no matter how I try. 

So, today, instead of a post where I explain all about the epiphany I've recently experienced, I wrote about the day where I cleaned where no man has cleaned before, recognized someone needed a day off, ate Rice Krispies for dinner, and lost a treasure. I gave up the baskets, the bunnies, the magazines, and some ceramic figurines; did I have to lose my diamond too?

Did I?




Thursday, February 19, 2009

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Part II of II

Valentine's Day-2009
Part II
Italian Food + Sweethearts Dance=Listerine


Waiting. 

WHAT is Wes thinking? Something about chocolate milk?


So awkward, yet so

SWEET.

Oh, to be young, 
and in like, 
with several boys. 

Saturday Night (2/14) was Springville High's Sweethearts Dance. Jessie's date was Garrett. They went to dinner (Italian) in casual attire and returned to their separate homes to change into their fancy duds. They went to the dance, had their picture taken, and then scampered off to another location to watch a movie. I've been waiting for my chance to use the word scamper. Brilliant!

"These are the moments...
These are the times"

Part I of II parts

Valentine's Day-2009
Part I


I waited. I watched the clock. I paced. 
I told myself to be patient.
I watched people come and go.
(By people I mean; Kevin, Jake, Jessie, and Wes)
I waited for the phone to ring. 
When the phone did ring it was to tell me to 
wait some more.
I am good at waiting. It's kind of my job. I don't think anyone other than me in our family can
wait quite like me.
I waited through breakfast, lunch, and yes, my Valentine's Dinner.

This is what I waited for:
I've always thought there is just too much hype about Valentine's.
(I think it is the pink/red combo that gets under my skin)
But that was before the new dryer.
It is sweet. 

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Cubs and Cake

Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet-what a group of fine looking young men. I think every imaginable emotion is being expressed. If I could put little thought bubbles over their heads, believe me, I would. 


Cake for Decorating Contest
This was a total team effort. The theme was "anything about the United States." Considering that was the theme, and it could actually be anything, there were a surprising number of red, white, and blue cakes. 


"Most Patriotic"
My, I mean our, cake was awesome. To win "most patriotic" is quite an honor. Eating it was quite an honor too. 


The best part of all: leftover frosting! And this is after spreading at least 2 inches of that frosting all over that beautiful cake. The only thing better than frosting on cake, is, well, frosting.

There should be a picture of Wes receiving his first Cub Scout Badge, the Bobcat, but we were with him and couldn't take a picture of ourselves. (I've got to figure out how to do that. Do I smell an invention, maybe?) After the fun times at the banquet and arriving home and praising Wes for his winning cake we find out he doesn't know what patriotic means. Once we told him,
 (after looking in the dictionary, because I found I could not really explain it very well),  I think his little chest puffed up a little bit with pride. 
Or he might have just been full of cake. But the frosting is all mine.

Friday, February 13, 2009

changing plans

This isn't a post pertaining to any significant event; just some Mary Ramblings. 

Today I had my list of things to do firmly set in the stone of my mind when my mojo began to crumble. I don't like my mojo being crumbled. It is a slippery, albeit rocky, slope. 

My first mistake was to change my routine and not run. I used the flimsy excuse that I didn't want to wake Jake: who's home for the weekend and whose bedroom is next to the "exercise" room. (too cold outside also ruled out running outside. I use that excuse frequently as well.)  As if I were ever that considerate. Bad choice, because running always makes my frown turn upside down. 

Things have gone out of kilter from that one choice. I don't know quite how it works; but if I change one thing in my routine everything from that point on suffers. 

My plan, (the set in stone one), was to go buy a dryer, pick up prescriptions, buy a birthday present for Wes's friend, and probably a couple of other random errands thrown into the mix.  
Yeah, well, as I am prepping myself for the day, I hear loud rambunctious banging on the front door but because I was not fully prepped I chose to ignore it. Then I hear the rambunctioness actually enter my home. It's some of Jake's friends (see, I could have exercised cause they woke up Jake). And while I love Jake's friends, they did contribute to the messing up of my mojo. Is it my fault that I hung out with Jake and his friends for an hour or so? 

I really did make a huge effort to get back on track though. I was getting my act together.  I even answered the phone and didn't let it distract me. I was on task. I was propelling forward. I was purposeful and ready to go. 

But the dryer is not the only thing that is broken. The Car. It is broke too. If I hate a broken dryer, I hate a broken car so much more. 

So I am now completely derailed. Once I have a plan it seems like I just can't get my groove back. I look around dazed and thinking what am I going to do now? It's not like there aren't a thousand things to do; I am just deflated. 

Here's what I did. I just gave up. I have been on facebook, reading random blogs, listening to the news, generally just wasting time. So I thought I'd waste some time here.  If you actually read this, then you wasted some time too. Misery loves company. 

*Do you realize how many random blogs there are? I could be derailed 24/7. I am definitely headed in that direction.



Thursday, February 12, 2009

first official craft project post.


This is my first official craft project post on our blog! So excited!

What we have here is a "5-minute Valentines Box". That's what you make when your child gives you the note telling you that he needs to bring a valentine box for his valentines the day before he needs to bring his valentine box to school. 

Supplies for this project are:

1 red shoe box

1 lego catalog

scissors

glue

1 boy (this project is definitely geared more for a boy; it requires little thought.)

1 easily irritated mom

optional items:

random plastic toy (to tape on top; see instructions.)


Instructions for construction of Valentine Box:

Find the box.
Find the glue. 
Find the scissors.
Have child cut out pictures of random lego toys. Overcome your OCD self and pay no attention to the fact that the pictures are cut all jiggidy-jaggidy.
YOU glue pictures to box because you cannot be expected to overcome that much OCD.
Try to place the pictures randomly and not symmetrically; random is more pleasing to the eye.

As a final touch you could add your optional random toy. After child has gone to bed, secure the toy with tape. Because there is no way it is going to stay stuck. 

What would kids do without their easily irritated moms?

I hope my box wins first place!







Monday, February 9, 2009

Piano


It's a right of passage. Piano lessons. 

My own journey with piano began when I was 5 years old. I remember that I was very excited and I loved it and I caused a lot of grief for my parents and my piano teachers. Because, while I loved the piano, I, like most, did not like the part about practicing. And somehow teachers can tell when you haven't  practiced. I do recall that one teacher requested that I not be her student any longer. I was a stubborn, contrary girl. 

I must have picked up something because I still love the piano. And while I certainly never became a great pianist, I did learn enough to really enjoy what I could play. Playing the piano is a great stress reliever. Any time I would play as a teenager I would have a better day. I also had a crazy delusion that Donny Osmond was going to walk up to our door, hear me playing, and ask me to marry him on the spot. Plus be on his show. (And to think that some 30 years later I would be sitting next to Donny Osmond in a movie theater...if only I'd brought my piano along...no, bad idea.) The best calling in the church is Primary Piano Player. Hands down. I have had that calling at the very least 10 years in total.

The three old ones, (Kristen, Jake and Jessie), all had their piano lessons from a wonderful woman named Marilyn. (Marilyn was the original "Darla" on the "Little Rascals" show. That is a long time ago, even for me.) She charged $5 a lesson and that was a real deal. (And it is also exactly as much as we could afford.) She was a great teacher; not a great motivator. She was just too darn nice. I'm not sure how K., J., &J., feel about piano. I will have to ask them. (I just now asked J. #2, and she says she wishes she could play the piano.) 

Wes began about 6 weeks ago and I am pretty sure the novelty has worn off. He is doing very well, passing off all the beginning songs as fast as a rabbit; but the realization that this is a skill to be learned and is not just handed to you is beginning to dawn. I know this is something Wes wants to do though because it is one of the few things he has to do that he isn't scheming for some way to be paid for for doing it. Lessons are now $15 each; but I think it will be worth it. He will succeed  because Wes is motivated, and his teacher is as well.

Writing this is making me want to pull out the Primary Songbook and play a few tunes. Yeah, I am that good. I wonder if Donny is out taking a walk tonight?

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

I wouldn't pay $450 to see anything.

Entering from the inner sanctum.

Looking UP from where we sat. 

Warm up. 

More warm up. Can't get enough of that.

The Carolina Bobcats warm up.

Notice the little boy crying. Those big dressed up characters creep me out too.
He (the little boy) got better.

Game Shot

Crowd shot?

Pretty sure that player is looking at me!
Or trying to NOT look at me.

Amazing action shot! They are ridiculously good looking. 

This is a free throw, right?

Another Action Shot. He's got some great moves.

Okay, if you cannot tell, these are pictures from a Jazz game. A game that Kevin and I attended. And as you can see we are very close to the actual game. Very Very Close. $450 per seat close. Way out of our league close. Pun intended.

Here's the story: Kevin was given these amazing tickets from work and when you get tickets like that it doesn't matter one bit that you have no idea who they are playing, (or really care), or really understand the game of basketball. I did learn that it is somewhat like tennis. Your head goes back and forth, back and forth. I also learned that there a lot of people who go to great lengths to catch little balls that are thrown in the air at random. They don't throw those balls at the $450 seat section though; that'd be way tacky. People in that section also clap like they are at the ballet, very properly and politely. Nary a woot woot to be heard. I also learned that Kevin, and especially I, are big dorks. I was completely dazzled by the shiny floor, the really hot players (me) and the really hot dancers (Kevin and me), and the 3-ring circus that the whole thing actually is. Plus the fact that we were fed before the game in the "special people" upper crust eating room and were allowed to go down anytime during the game and get more free food. Which we never actually did; but knowing we could made us feel special. I took about 60 pictures of I don't even know what. We looked like tourists visiting another country. No clue about the customs or the language of the area. The "plastics" were sitting beside us and you don't know how badly I was trying to figure out how to get a picture of them. I was so distracted by them that I missed part of the game. Eventually I really did kind of get into things; I even gave a little tiny shout out at one point. I don't think anyone heard. Hopefully. 

The funniest part for me was finding out that the Jazz had been on a losing streak and this game was the first one they'd won in a while. We must be like good charms or something. They should give us more tickets. But this time I would prefer to sit with the woot-wooters. (But I'm not complaining about the view; we could have touched the players. And have been tackled and restrained by the security force surrounding the floor. Not that I thought about ever doing that. No, definitely not. Too tacky.)

A Basketball game to remember. 

Special, Special, Special

January 31, 2009 


Jake performed the baptism and Dad the confirmation.


Wes with Jake and his buddies. 


Jake in his signature pose; Wes ???


Aww...the fam.

The pictures definitely tell the story of Wes's baptism day. I'm not an openly sentimental person but I will share that it was a really special day. "Special" gets a bad rap. It was a truly special day.