Jekyll and Hyde

Sometimes I think my 16 year old has a split personality. At times he can be so agreeable,cooperative and down right fun to be around and other times - well, not so much. We are planning a family trip to Utah and he is not very excited about going, to put it mildly. One of his young men leaders, who has moved away, is going to be in church one of the Sundays that we are going to be gone and he is convinced that I planned this trip, at this time, just to make his life miserable. He thinks if he has to be miserable that his mom should be too and he spent most of Sunday being a pain. Now, I know I should just ignore him and not let him bug me, but that is easier said than done. He bugged me A LOT! Then today he is a totally different child. He did Health with very little prompting and no assistance from me. He happily changed the laundry for me, more than once, and without me even knowing one time. It is like a day and night difference. I wish I knew who or what to thank for this transformation because I really like it!

Message to my children - I hope when you have children and they don't want to come and visit me that you still make them come anyway, because I will want to see them even if they are miserable.

4 blessings to be thankful for today
A son - who did health happily and by himself.
A daughter - who goes shopping with me and tells me when I don't need things and lets me buy things even when I don't need them.
A daughter - who is willing to take care of some of my responsibilities so I can go on vacation.
A son - who thinks I have good date ideas and only makes fun of me a little bit when I suggest ideas that aren't so good.

The hubby's strategy for feeling cool

So, I'm sitting next to my hubby in church today and I look down at his tie and I'm trying to figure out why all the cartoon characters are in little round balls and what is that funny looking green plant in between each ball? As I look closer I realize he is wearing a Christmas tie complete with holly and ornaments! You've all heard of Relief Society activities billed as "Christmas in July". Well, I think he was going for "Christmas in June" and definitely hoping for the cooler temperatures. I say, anything is worth a try. It is so HOT here. The air conditioning in the nursery room at the church was working right today though so that was a nice bonus. For about the last month we've had to push the over-ride button to get it to come on and that is suppose to last for 3 hours, but only lasted for about half an hour and then we'd have to push it again. Sometimes we'd forget and then all the sudden we would start getting really warm and have to push it and then wait for it to cool off. Not fun!

The 3 things I am thankful for today are Kids - I get such a kick out of the little kids in nursery and their personalities. They are so willing to let their feelings show and not at all afraid of acting silly. It's fun to have people to be silly with me. They make me so happy! The Gospel of Jesus Christ - I often become complacent about this great blessing and begin to take my religion for granted. I have enjoyed reading the blog of my daughter's roommate and son's girlfriend and seeing the church and all its blessings through her newly baptised eyes. It reminds me to appreciate what I have been blessed with. Air Conditioning - I can't imagine what living in Tempe must have been like before air conditioning. It's just way to hot to not have a cooling system to make life bearable.

The Curse of Party Food

I usually consider myself an OK cook. I definitely don't do fancy, but the stuff I make is usually edible, unless of course you ask my 16 year old son, then it's just disgusting because pretty much all food that doesn't come in a fast food bag is disgusting in his opinion. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I do know how to cook and am quite capable until someone asks me to cook something for a party. Then strange things begin to happen and something always seems to go wrong or the food just doesn't end up tasting as good as it usually does. I was supposed to make 2 pineapple upside down cakes for a going away party tonight for a family in our ward. Now, I don't usually make pineapple upside down cake, but I know what it is suppose to look like and I had a recipe so I wasn't too worried. The recipe called for 1 cup of brown sugar and my 1 cup measuring cup was dirty and I didn't feel like washing it so I decided to use the 1/3 cup and being the math whiz that I am I filled it up 3 times and poured it into the melted butter, just like the recipe said. It looked like there was too much butter for the amount of sugar and I double checked the recipe and the cube markings to make sure I had used the right amount and I had. It wasn't until the first cake was in the oven and I was making the second one, that I realized the cup I had used said 1/4 instead of 1/3. I should have filled it up 4 times. It was amazing what a difference that fourth fill up made with the second cake. The first cake turned out fine and you couldn't even tell that I had made a mistake, but it is just frustrating to me that stuff like that always seems to happen. It didn't really matter though because there was lots of cake and we came home with almost as much as we took. I guess we know what we are taking for Sunday dinner at the in-laws tomorrow for dessert. My sister in law called to tell us we were having enchiladas. The hubby asked what we should bring and she said "Can you bring tacos." Does that make sense to you?? I thought it was kind of humorous. Tonight I am grateful for Breakfast Burritos - Usually I am not a big breakfast burrito fan, but my hubby bought me a bacon and potato one today from my sister in law's church food sale and it was yummy. A husband - that puts gas in the car for me so I don't have to do it and have a heart attack while watching the price numbers go around and around. Peer Pressure - usually this is not something to be grateful for, but today it got 3 of my kids out of bed and at the temple doing baptisms by 6:00 AM. Thank goodness for positive peer pressure.

Ant Island

For the past few mornings this is what I have seen in the cat's water dish when I have gone outside. It took me a while to figure out what it was, until I noticed that it was moving. It is actually a pile of about 100 ants climbing on top of each other trying not to drown. Apparently the ants in our yard get a little dehydrated while they are carrying off the cat food and have decided to try to collect water as well. As you can see, it hasn't been that successful of an attempt. My hubby informed me that an ant will actually sacrifice its life to build a bridge to cross water if it means that his companions will be able to cross safely. The bridge building endeavor seems to fall apart about a quarter of the way across the bowl. I think ants are pretty interesting creatures. It amazes me how they can be so small and still carry relatively large objects, such as cat food. It's also unbelievable to me how quickly one ant can let hundreds of ants know when they have located a food source. They have that communication thing down without the help of computers or cell phones. Talking about ants has reminded me of a funny story. At least it's funny now. A few years ago, about this same time of the year, a group of ants decided they wanted to invade my house. Every day I would find them crawling under my front door and into my abode. I would spray them with ant spray and they would be gone until the next morning. This went on for a few days and I was getting pretty tired of it. One morning, in my frustration, I grabbed the ant spray and really went after them. However, something didn't look quite right. In my haste, I had grabbed the PAM cooking spray and thoroughly coated my entry way floor. What a Mess! I guess it could have been worse. I could have coated my cake pan with ant spray. Here's my list of things I'm thankful for today. Water - I'm glad that I have water that comes out of my tap and I can just turn it on and get some anytime I want. I'd probably drink a lot less if I had to risk my life every time I tried to get a drink. Crock pots -I love my crock pot. It is so fun to put a whole bunch of raw food in a pot and ignore it for 8 hours and have dinner when you open it. Way cool!Sons - that are willing to happily go haul chairs from the church and set them up for a party the ward is having tomorrow at a member's home. Sometimes they are so agreeable and I love it.

The Communication Age

I think it is interesting that we live in a day and age with so many advances which make communication easier and yet I seem to have a harder time than ever communicating. My sons left the house today at 11:30 to go to lunch with the sister, the roommate and the girlfriend or is that the girlfriend and her roommates, or perhaps the sister and her roommates, or maybe the adopted sister, the sister, and the roommate or just the girls... At 3:00 I queried, via a text message, if they were coming home anytime soon. 10 texts later I still didn't have an answer to my original question. I don't really care if my kids aren't at home. However, the number 2 son had promised me he would use some time this afternoon to do online Health and I was curious who to plan on for dinner. Apparently the two sons had parted company and no decision could be made until they talked to each other which I guess was impossible to do until they reconnected. Why do we all have cell phones? (The answer to that question today was so the hubby could forget his at home and call and offer to treat me to $1.00 Arbys roast beef sandwiches for lunch if I would bring it to him. Pretty good reason, in my opinion, but probably not the original, intended purpose.) When it got to be 5:00 and I still hadn't heard from the sons I decided this would be a good night to worry about myself and let them do the same. The hubby came home and was willing to use his Chili's gift card (that he got from work a long time ago) and my movie gift card for a wild night on the town (a late anniversary celebration). We'd show those non-communicative boys! We were just finishing up dinner about 7:00 when I received a phone call from the youngest wondering where we were and informing me that I needed to be home before 9:00 so he wouldn't be home alone when his brother went on a double date. Gee whiz, plans I knew nothing about! I wasn't very nice and told him I'd think about it and if we didn't make it home to lock the doors and turn on all the lights. After I let him stew for a few minutes I called back and asked if he wanted us to pick him up to go to the movie with us. No, they had it all figured out and he was going with his brother since they were all going to the girl's apartment to play games and the sister and the roommate would be there too. Aw, more information - this communication thing is getting easier. We went to see "Get Smart" and I enjoyed it a lot although I wouldn't recommend drinking 5 tall glasses of water right before seeing it if you have difficulty laughing and controlling your bladder at the same time. I just wish they could make a movie without throwing in the non-essential hand gestures or cuss words here and there. It would have been a better movie, in my opinion, without them. The movie made me want to find a collection of the old TV series and watch it again. I remember being thoroughly entertained by the show as a kid. Can you believe my 23 year old daughter didn't even know the movie was based on a TV series? When we got out of the movie I called the young one and asked if he wanted to be picked up. Yes, he did, but not for half an hour. This "forced" the hubby and I to dig through the change in the ashtray in the van and stop at McDonalds for an ice cream cone. 15 minutes later another phone call informed us that he had changed his mind and he was staying. We took a rather scenic, long trip home through all the road construction. Apparently, I retire to my house too early in the evening. Who would have known there is so much activity on the roads at 10:15 at night. I guess these road construction workers know how to beat the Arizona heat. I definitely had a fun evening, however impromptu. This non-communication thing has its perks, along with its frustrations. My oldest daughter and I decided today that we need to use our blogs in a more productive way. We decided that we could use them as a gratitude journal to record things we are thankful for. I noticed she fulfilled her part of the bargain so I guess it is time for me to step up to the plate. Today I am grateful for Gift cards - one of the greatest inventions ever created. How fun is it to get something or go somewhere for free?! Light bulbs - and a son to install them for me so I don't have to. These were the big, long fluorescent ones that are a pain to put in and I always seem to manage to crack the plastic covers while I am at it. Thanks son! You know who you are. Let there be light! Clouds - it is amazing to me how a change in the weather can lift my spirits. Today the sun that usually shines brightly down on my bed in the late afternoon was a beautiful orange shade thanks to the smoke filled clouds on the horizon. Sorry to those people who had to evacuate their homes because of the smoke, but the clouds made the evening sky absolutely beautiful. and last of all a CELEBRATION - my son-in-law passed the written part of his test to receive his pilot's license today. CONGRATULATIONS! Way to Go!

Celebration!

It's time to celebrate! Today my youngest son received his AIMS test scores in Math in the mail and HE MET THE STANDARD. This is a test he has to pass in order to graduate and knowing his love/hate relationship with math - he loves to hate it - I was a little concerned at how he would do on this particular test. Needless to say, I was relieved to know that he won't have to take it again. Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! The mailman made my day! Way to go my highly intelligent son!

The Sudoku sickness has spread

A couple of years ago my eldest and I discovered Sudoku and I became a little addicted for a while. I got a calendar for Christmas 2006 with a Sudoku a day and I pretty much did one a day for most of 2007. My kids keep me in puzzles now and I go in phases where I Sudoku a lot and then not so much. My habit, at the moment, is to do the puzzle in the paper every morning in pen, which as I have mentioned before is a challenge for me. My oldest son caught the sickness sometime in 2007 and usually has to do one a day. He likes to Sudoku in bed and his brother likes to complain about it. My husband has never been that interested, but on a plane trip to Seattle last December he actually tried to steal my Sudoku book from me. My daughter bought him his own easy Sudoku book for his birthday in April (at his request) and a monster was born.
Now it is hard to find him at home without his Sudoku book in hand. He even took notes for a funeral talk in it because it was the closest paper he could find. If he makes a mistake he says "Oh, I ran into a road block." I try to tell him there are no road blocks thrown into Sudoku puzzles, but the easiest way to start a fight in our home at the moment is for me to comment on his Sudoku ability. He received a few more books for Father's Day along with some special race car pencils to Sudoku with and he was a happy dad. Last night I went into our bedroom and actually caught him doing online Sudoku on the computer. Who would have thought?? Even I haven't got the sickness that bad. Well, today he comes home from work and begins to share his lunch time near catastrophe with me. Guess what it was? He got his lunch, pulled his Sudoku book out of the bag, opened to the page he was on and ... here it is... HIS PENCIL WAS MISSING! I am happy to report it was only a near catastrophe because he managed to finish the half done puzzle in pen without making a mistake. I bet someone would have lent him a pencil if he would have asked, but it probably wouldn't have had race cars on it. Actually, I'm glad he has something to do while I write on my blog. However, this online stuff has got to stop before it interferes with MY computer time. What's next? Is he going to want a blog of his own sometime soon too?

25 years!

Today the hubby and I are celebrating 25 years of marital bliss. I guess we would both say that there have been a few days interspersed here and there that weren't so blissful, but for the most part it has been a pretty wonderful ride. Marriage isn't easy but I don't think anything that is worth a lot ever is. Marriage takes work and attention. It is easy to loose sight of how important our marriage is and sometimes we let it get pushed to the back burner. Earlier this year, we took a class offered by the stake that reminded us to put our relationship first and foremost. It was amazing how quickly our marriage improved when we were focusing on it every day. I am glad that I fell in love with him 25 years ago and I would marry him again in a minute. I love you my handsome husband. It's hard to believe that I have been married for more years than I was single.

Our kids made us a delicious dinner of steak, twice-baked potatoes, fruit salad and brownies and ice cream. They surprized us with dinner a few years ago when it was our anniversary and I loved the idea of them all working together and getting along while they accomplished a common goal. When we were trying to decide what to do this year I requested dinner, made by them, again. They are good kids and are four of the reasons why I'm glad I married their dad.

Poopy little Poky

The air conditioner at my younger daughter's apartment hasn't been working this weekend so she and one of her roommates and Poky the puppy spent the night at our house last night. Apparently it wasn't a very restful night because Poky felt the need to poop for most of it. Poky is still working on the potty training thing and isn't quite convinced that she should have to go outside to take care of her bathroom needs, especially when it is dark. Needless to say, I am glad that I have procrastinated getting new carpet. This poopy problem continued for most of the day (still at my house) and ended up with a visit to the vet. I guess I should be more sympathetic. If she is really sick then I will have to apologize to her later. Vet visits and potty training, just a couple of reasons why I don't need a puppy of my own. The noise from the other room sounds like my son, the puppy-sitter just got a lap full. I am so glad the air conditioning is fixed and the puppy will promptly be heading to her own home.
I've decided I only want grandchildren that come with diapers for at least the first year of their lives. Sorry Poky.
This is the son and Poky in happier times. His comment was "It's hard to believe something that cute could hold something that foul." After the final incident poopy Poky was all pooped out. Poor poopy Poky the puppy.

Interesting statistics

My school teacher daughter is taking an online class this summer. She shared these statistics with me from a book she was reading and I found them very interesting.

Research indicates that when we learn something new, we will remember:

10 percent of what we read
20 percent of what we hear
30 percent of what we see
50 percent of what we see and hear
55 percent of what we see and take notes on
70 percent of what we discuss with others
80 percent of what we personally experience
85 percent of what we see, take notes on, and review within five hours
95 percent of what we teach others

I was thinking about this today as it pertains to what we get out of our church meetings. I often feel that I attend church and get all motivated and enlightened, just to go home and continue to do what I've always done. For a while I was really good at taking notes during Sacrament meeting and the classes I attended. I guess that would give me a little more than a 50/50 chance of remembering what I learned (if the teacher used visual aids). Perhaps if I took notes and then reviewed them when I got home my chances of making a real change would increase by the same amount as the statistics show my memory of the information would increase. These statistics definitely prove what I have always believed - the teacher always gets more out of the lessons than anyone else does. I guess we should all be grateful for our church teaching opportunities. I would have to say I got more out of the nursery lesson than any of the kids did today, but that could be because they were totally out of control and running around the room while I was trying to teach them. My team-teaching husband ate something that didn't agree with him and he was out in the parking lot throwing up and going home during the lesson time and somehow all the kids knew they had the advantage over me. I guess I need to use more visual aids for the seeing part of learning, but then they all climb all over me and fight to get to be the one to hold the picture. Lesson time is definitely our weak link in the nursery equation, but I'll keep trying. Every once in a while the majority of them sit down and actually listen and that is an amazing experience. I love my calling!

Sacrament meeting

My 16 year old son blessed the sacrament for the first time today in Sacrament meeting. He was worried about doing something wrong, but he did a great job. I hope he appreciates what a priviledge it is to be allowed to participate in this very sacred ordinance. Partaking of the sacrament and renewing our baptismal covenants are the most important reasons why we attend church each Sunday. I am grateful that he is worthy to have this opportunity and pray that he will always do his best to live his life in a way that will keep him that way.

We had a wonderful meeting today. We had a young couple speak who have not always lived the kind of lives they knew they should. The wife shared her conversion story and her husband shared how he became active again. They both bore such sweet testimonies. They, along with their year old son, were recently sealed in the temple and it is so amazing to see the changes that have taken place in their lives. His mother is one of the ladies that I went to the beach with and I know that his conversion and new lifestyle have been an answer to her many prayers. I was so touched by the spirit today. A member of the Stake Presidency also bore his testimony about the atonement and the power that it has to turn lives around. I am so grateful for the atonement and for the opportunity I have to repent and to start again every time I make a mistake. I would be lost without this great gift from my Savior.

Message to my children - Never forget that your elder brother, Jesus Christ, loves you and suffered for your sins so that you can be forgiven and begin again as many times as you need to. His love and his power are real and can change your life for good.

A first time for everything

My oldest daughter and I went to Seagull Book today. We both enjoy reading LDS fiction and since the libraries here have a limited supply we usually have to purchase the books or wait for a trip to Utah where we hit all the libraries and try to fit in a year's worth of reading into a week long vacation. Usually she gives in and buys the books and I read them when she is done. It's a pretty good deal for me, especially since I think she is probably the world's fastest reader. Today however I spent more money at the bookstore than she did. In fact, she left EMPTY HANDED. Her husband would be so proud of her!

Froggy pajama pants

Today my oldest daughter decided she wanted to make herself some pajama pants. She really likes frogs and we found some really cute, slick knit fabric with flowers and frogs. I wonder if I sewed on a more regular basis if I would get good at it? It seems like I always sew everything twice because I have to unpick a lot. It took longer than the one hour the pattern boasted they could be made in but they did turn out cute. If the sewing machine got fed more frequently maybe it wouldn't have been tempted to eat them so often.

No longer a Teen

Today my third child, my youngest daughter, officially is no longer a teenager. It is hard to believe that the teenage phase of her life is over. She has actually been a relatively nice teenager. Of course, she has had her moments. Everybody has them and any daughter of mine probably deserves to have a few just based on her genes. She has grown into an amazing young lady and I am happy that she is my growing up little girl. I wonder if she will still have a liking for black finger nail polish and shirts with skulls on them now? Probably. That's just part of who she is.

Her roommate arranged a group trip to the Diamondbacks baseball game last night to celebrate her birthday. I am apparently too old and boring to be part of the group, but I did get to see a few pictures. I think everyone had fun. Especially since it was one of the rare games the Diamondbacks have won in the last month or so.


Tonight we all went out to dinner at Some-burro's, a local Mexican restaurant, in honor of the event and then had cake and presents at our house. Welcome to the 20's dear daughter. I hope they treat you great!

As fun as the beach?

I just spent approximately what it cost me to go to the beach for a week at my friendly, neighborhood dentist office getting a new crown on my tooth. I'm glad I have good insurance or it would have cost me a lot more! After noting this similarity between the two experiences, I decided to think of some other ways they compare. Chalk this contemplation up to life being pretty boring sitting in a dentist chair for 2 hours.

First of all, I fit about as well in a dentist chair as I fit in a beach chair, however dentist chairs are easier to get out of and they move up and down and recline. Beach chairs can also recline, sometimes by choice and sometimes because of faulty construction.

Both experiences include a bright light shining over my head. At the beach, the light wasn't always visible and it wasn't adjustable. The dentist office light was plenty visible and can be adjusted although it seems that the preferred adjustment is "shining directly in the patients eyes". I think it is actually suppose to shine in my mouth, but my mouth and my eyes must be pretty close together. A plus at the dentist office is that I don't get sunburned if I forget to wear my sun screen, but I did get to see the dental assistant wearing some funky looking "sun" glasses while she blasted ultra violet rays into my mouth at one point.

I think I appreciate the apparel at the dentist to that at the beach. The dental dress code is all about covering up, complete with face mask and latex gloves. The dress code at the beach is usually little more than the equivalent of a face mask and a couple of gloves, strategically placed.

Getting wet is included in both activities and can be unexpected in both cases. While my feet were usually the victims at the beach, my face was definitely the victim at the dentist. The crashing sound of the waves could very easily be compared to the surging sound of water being blasted into my mouth, and they are both a lot louder than I think they should be and tend to easily escape their boundaries.

I think those are most of the comparisons that I came up with. As the actual dental work progressed it became a lot more easily compared to demolition and construction than to a day on the beach. I would most definitely recommend spending your $275 on the week long vacation and not the two hour torture if at all possible.

I love a bargain!

Tonight my oldest daughter and I went shopping at JoAnn's. She was thinking that she would like to make some pajama pants and the patterns were on sale there. Of course I was willing to accompany her on her outing. We had a lot of fun looking at patterns and even bought a couple. They are a lot more tempting when they are 2 for $3.00 rather than $15.00 each. When I went to the beach I had looked through my vast supply of unfinished, or unstarted, projects to see if I had something I would like to take to work on. I found a package of 6 printed cross-stitch quilt blocks that I bought a couple of years ago because they were a bargain at the the Ben Franklin going out of business sale. I had bought a lot of different packages and given them to my mom because she is from the generation that doesn't believe in just sitting and doing nothing while the TV is on. This package was the only one of this pattern and so isn't really big enough to make a quilt. I kept it for me thinking that I might actually be able to finish six blocks and sew them into a baby quilt before my first grandchild was born. However, I couldn't decide what color I wanted to cross-stitch them in. I looked for some fabric to put with them but could never find anything that spoke to me so they got put away in a basket. My mom was working on a set of blocks when she was here visiting earlier this month and I was reminded that I like to cross-stitch, so when I saw these blocks I pulled them out. I still couldn't decide what color to do them so they didn't get worked on at the beach, but while I was at JoAnn's tonight I found some tiny flowered print on the clearance table and decided it was what I was looking for. The fact that it was on sale for $1.50 a yard helped me to make up my mind. Unfortunately, the embroidery floss wasn't on sale, so now I have to wait for it to be cheap before I can start the blocks. No wonder I never finish any of my projects. At JoAnn's I also found a wedding photo album that I thought was cute. I have been thinking I needed something to put some pictures of my oldest's wedding in so I can show them off. It was on clearance for $2.97 which clinched the deal for me. Do see now that I have a sickness? Anyway, the most exciting part was when the clerk rang it up, it rang up at $1.87. What a bargain!! I am so good at this!!! I am writing about these projects with the hope that making them public will encourage me to actually finish them. Stay tuned in to see if it really happens. I wish I were as good at accomplishing my goals as I am at finding good deals.

Hot and bothered

No, this is not an x-rated posting or anything of the sort. It is just my frustration releasing itself to the world. It is hot! It is too hot. It is so hot and I hate it. It is 113 and that is obnoxiously hot. I know I live in Tempe, Arizona. I know it is supposed to be hot here on the almost first day of summer, but that doesn't mean I have to like it and I DON'T! I don't like to be hot! It makes me grumpy. Just ask my 16 year old who had the "pleasure" of my company for almost the entire day. Which brings up the bothered part of this blog. My son's idea of doing school work bothers me. He thinks the least amount of effort put forth is the best. Yes, I know it is hot and we need to conserve our energy, but I don't think slacking on the online health class is the best way to do it. He has procrastinated to the point of almost no return and so we get to spend lots and lots of not so quality time trying to get him caught up and the assignments turned in, the chapters read, the videos watched, and the tests taken before the Thursday deadline. Ugh!! Today we both took the "Are you depressed?" quiz for one of his assignments. He scored a 3 out of 16. No depression at all. I scored a 14 out of 16. See where all this being bothered gets you!

I won! I won!

Today was the first prize drawing for the Adult Summer reading program at the library. I even made a special trip to the library to turn in all my cards from the books I read at the beach. I was really excited when they called this afternoon and told me that I was a winner. I won a $10.00 gift certificate to a Harkins theatre. Now I can get my hubby to take me to a movie! See, reading really does pay off.

Just think of all the prizes I could win if I read this whole stack of books that I just borrowed from daughter numero uno. Oh, so many books and so little time! When will I be able to fit in that movie??

The vacation is definitely over

Well, it's a good thing I enjoyed my get away because real life was more than ready to welcome me home today. I was suppose to have a salad made and delivered to the church before 10:00 this morning for a funeral. This doesn't sound so difficult except that every single piece of clothing that I own, that fits, except for a muu-muu looking dress and two pair of sweat pants was in the laundry. I sorted the clothes and started the wash and thought I could get some clothes clean in time to run to the store and still get the salad made, but it just seemed to take longer than it should. I finally put on the dress, since it was already close to 100 degrees outside, and went to the store, made the salad and got it to the church at 9:59. At least I wasn't the last person to show up. Then I spent most of the rest of the day trying to convince my teenage son to do his online health or assisting said son with said health in between loads of laundry, sorting mail and newspapers and picking up the house. I don't know why keeping a clean house is so difficult for me, but it seems like there is so much that needs done that I can't decide where to even begin and get discouraged before I get started. I need to just do something everyday and hopefully eventually I will notice a difference. I sure do miss the cool breezes of California. This hot weather is yucky!

Unwanted beach souvenir

I came home from the beach with one souvenir that I really didn't want. On the up and down rollercoaster of weight loss in my life it seems like lately there has been a lot more up than down. I have been telling myself that there is a certain weight that I refuse to weigh more than ever again and I have managed to stay under it for quite a while. Well, when I weighed myself this morning all those miniature candy bars, delicious desserts and fabulous meals that I so enjoyed this past week didn't seem so enjoyable any more. There was that number on the scale that I swore would never appear again! I was not really shocked but definitely not happy. I wish food was not such a big issue in my life and that I could seem to exercise more self control, or maybe just exercise, but wishing really isn't going to change anything. I need to once again recommit to making some much needed changes. Why, oh why, do our choices always catch up with us??

One of my good friends shared this picture with me of the CORRECT WAY TO WEIGH OURSELVES. It gave me a good laugh. Maybe this is the actual problem. I am not overweight. I was just never taught the right way to use a scale. Don't I wish?!

Priesthood ordination

We all gathered in the bishop's office today after church for the small one's advancement in the Aaronic Priesthood to a priest. I think perhaps he was confused as to why we were there and thought he was being called as bishop. I personally wouldn't go anywhere near that chair. We had a missionary welcome home in sacrament meeting so the whole family and a few significant others were there for that and stayed to see him set apart. The bishop and the young men's president and priest advisor attended also. He said there were so many hands on his head it felt like his neck was going to break but he also said it was cool. He didn't even complain too much about the smashed hair when he was done. His dad did a good job and gave him a wonderful blessing. I am so lucky to have 3 priesthood holders in my home at the moment as well as a son-in-law that can participate also. It is very weird to think that my youngest child is a priest and will be blessing the sacrament next week. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I use to sit in the congregation and look at all those handsome priests on the stand. I thought they were so mature and such heart throbs. It's hard for me to think that there might be some crazy young lady looking at my son and thinking he is mature and hot. That is such a strange thought. I am glad that he is willing to accept this new opportunity and responsiblility in his life and know that he will be blessed for his service.


I guess I probably shouldn't call him the small one anymore. Pretty soon he is going to be the tallest one in the family.

Side trip to Mexico - almost

Heading home to Arizona we had 5 people in one of the ladies Nissan truck. The youngest daughter suffers from car sickness so she ended up in the front passenger seat - the navigator spot. After filling the truck up with gas at $4.49 a gallon we were all a little sticker shocked and apparently not thinking as clearly as we normally would have. We headed down the road making all the right turns, or so we thought. We were all talking and/or reading and traveling along at a steady pace. On the freeway they have signs that tell you how many minutes it will take you to get to certain locations. We passed one that said 17 minutes to the Mexican border. I commented on how strange it was to be so close to a foreign country and how weird that seemed to me since I have never been to Mexico. It was hard for me to believe it was just down the road. Well, low and behold, about 17 minutes later guess what wasn't nearly as far down the road as it should have been? We noticed the international border signs at about the same time the navigator pointed out the LAST US EXIT rapidly approaching on our far right. With some quick and "completely safe and legal" maneuvering on our driver's part we were able to reach the exit and be saved from having to wait in a very long line just to explain that all we really wanted to do was get to Arizona and could we please just turn around. I wanted to get out and take a picture of the Mexican flag waving in front of us, but our driver felt that we had already spent enough time on our sight seeing adventure and wouldn't even stop, so this picture will have to suffice. This is pretty much what it looked like. After we got headed in the right direction and were finally on the road we really wanted to be on we began to wonder what we were thinking. We probably could have found the daughter a very willing husband there at the border and taken him home with us right then. We considered turning around and going back, but for only a second. The rest of the trip seemed highly uneventful after our exciting beginning and with only about 105 potty stops, give or take 100, we arrived back home to the blistering heat of Tempe, AZ. I would say that I am already looking forward to next year's trip, but who knows what next year will bring?

Hurry up and wait

My daughter came up with the title for this blog when we rushed to get up and packed and every thing loaded in the vehicles for the trip back to Arizona and then all sat and waited when we found out that one of the cars had a flat tire. It took a while for a decision to be made about the best course of action, but eventually AAA arrived and the problem was taken care of. Making group decisions seemed to be one of the downfalls of this trip to the beach. One of the ladies said it was kindof like trying to herd cats and I think that creates a very accurate picture. When you get a lot of very capable mothers together, who are use to making most of the decisions in their lives, you get a lot of opinions and they aren't all usually in accordance with the other. I like to call it "too many chiefs and not enough indians", but that probably would be frowned upon as not being politically correct. My daughter felt like she had 10 moms at times on this vacation, but I think we all still managed to have a great time and are sorry to see it end.

Ocean view?

This house is just down the street from where we stay in Carlsbad and across the street from the beach. We have walked or driven by it numerous times this week. What I wonder is why do people go to the trouble of building a house with huge, beautiful windows to take advantage of their ocean view and then NEVER open the blinds? Perhaps this is a second home and the owners weren't there this week. I hope so because otherwise it is a waste of a lot of windex.

All good things must come to an end

Well, I am sad. Very, very sad. Not just because today is the last day of my vacation at the beach with my friends, even though that is enough reason to be sad. The even sadder part is that we found out that the condo we are staying in is scheduled to be demolished and a hotel is going to be built in its place. Before next year at this time our "beach bunny bugalow" will be no more. I have only come here for 2 years and this news breaks my heart, but some of these women have been staying here for 13 years and I can't imagine how they must feel. I hate "progress". Especially when it includes tearing down a pefectly good building to build another one in its place.
We're looking for a new place to call home. Anybody know of any nice, cheap oceanfront property for rent?

Thursday night at the San Diego Temple

I love the temple. I love the way I feel when I attend the temple. When I sit in the celestial room it is much easier for me to see myself the way my Heavenly Father sees me. I feel His love for me there better than any where else in the world. Tonight a few of us had the opportunity to attend a session at the San Diego Temple. It was a small session and we felt very needed there. I have always thought that this temple is one of the most beautiful. It looks like something you would see in your dreams. Now I can say I have been inside this ediface and it is as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. The celestial room is majestic, high ceilings and gorgeous fixtures and the same wonderful feeling that can be found in all the temple celestial rooms. There is an atrium at the top of the temple where you can stand and look up and see all the surrounding spires of the temple through the windows. I could even gaze up and see the moon from one spot. It was wonderful! The only thing I didn't love about this temple were all the stairs. Stairs everywhere! However, even they added to the beauty of the whole experience. They looked so elegant.

The daughter's dolphin calling ability

There are not a lot of rules that we have at the beach, but there are a few. One of them is that if anyone spots a dolphin out in the ocean from our balcony that they inform everyone else, unless of course everyone else is asleep. I enjoy going out in the early morning and watching the waves, from the deck, while I read my book and have spotted a few groups of dolphins, but I haven't shared the experience because I have been the only one up. My daughter doesn't think this is fair, but if I tried to get her up and outside, by the time she got there the dolphins would be gone anyway. This afternoon I was typing recipes into the computer and she was watching TV. One of the other ladies came and stood by her, looking out the sliding door and said to my daughter, "Can you please tell a dolphin to swim past right now so I can see one before we have to go home." Being the accommodating child that she is she said, "Dolphin, swim past right now so Sis. ____ can see you." Sis. _____ gazed out the window for less than a minute before she said, "Look, there's a dolphin." At the same time, 2 other ladies who were sunning on the deck turned around and said, "Do you see that dolphin?" We all enjoyed watching it jump through the waves for a couple of minutes before it was gone. I never knew the daughter had such a talent!

Not just all fun and games

Lest you all think that I'm just spending all my time this week basking in the sun I will share with you some of my less fun activities. I have appointed myself the official trash woman of the group. I carry the full bag down the stairs and to the dumpster on a pretty regular basis. I don't want you to think that I am too noble though. I have an ulterior motive. We have a big bowl full of miniature candy bars sitting on the counter. Every time I take the trash out I reward myself with a candy bar. I wish that was the only time I stuck my hand in that bowl! I also have another job that I am responsible for. Perhaps all of you middle age women can relate with me when I say that sometimes getting my bathroom needs met on a vacation is difficult. The other morning I was very grateful to finally get some much needed relief. However, when I flushed the toilet things didn't go so well. No problem, I thought, there's a plunger right here. Well,I plunged and flushed and pailed and plunged and flushed until I was sure there was a line outside the door waiting for the bathroom. Finally I had to admit defeat and share my problem. The plumbers, apparently in CA they travel in teams, arrived pretty quickly and dispatched the plug along with some unsolicited advice on what to flush and what not to. What I flushed definitely needed to be flushed. The toilet must hate me for the pain I caused it because it works fine for everyone else, but when I use it it plugs up every time! And yes, I do know how much toilet paper to use. The plunger and I are developing a very close relationship. Don't tell my hubby. Then today the whole lid just jumped off the toilet when I got close to it. I think it has it in for me.


From the picture you can see that the trash needs taken out. It's candy bar time!

At the beach a pair of us are responsible to cook and clean up one night while we are here. Tonight was our night. We decided to make Pima Tacos. The aunties would have been proud of my daughter. She did an amazing job. I was in charge of the Fruit Pizza which turned out pretty darn good as well. I love only having to cook once this whole week. What a vacation!


Perhaps we should have put an elastic in the cook's hair before she started. What do you think?

Death defying feats

I am not a risk taker. I like my very peaceful, quiet existence. I have no desire to sky dive, bungie jump, ride a motorcycle... My idea of living dangerously is doing Suduko in pen. Do you get what I am trying to say? I am a chicken! Today my daughter talked me into doing not one, but two, things that were way outside my comfort zone. The first step outside my idea of normal was two-fold. It started with me actually putting on a swimming suit for our afternoon trip down to the water. I quickly topped it with a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, but none the less, this was a big step. At the beach, I dropped the shorts and marched bravely into the surf. Really, I ran so that no one would see me in a bathing suit. I got up to my waist before I totally freaked out and saw my life pass before my eyes. I don't know why water scares me so much, but it does. Needless to say, I turned around and marched right back to my towel. Lucky for you, no one took any pictures.
The second risk occured on the way to the water. The beach is just down our steps, around the corner and through a parking lot. There is a steep hill on the far side of the lot that the surfers use to access the beach. Those of us with any sense at all go left, about a block, to the ramp or right, about a block, to the stairs. Well, being a teenager, my daughter decided that we should go down the hill since it would be so much faster and require less walking. I said "Go ahead, I'm going to the ramp." Down she went. I watched her and decided that it didn't look as hard as I thought it would be. Down I went. My heart was in my throat as I climbed and slid and slipped and tripped and made it all the way to the bottom without killing myself. I am not very good at looking straight down and not thinking I am going to fall on my face. After our time in the sun we headed back up the same way. For some reason, when I can't see the drop I am a lot braver. Anyway, like I said, I enjoy my quiet, peaceful life. I have taken enough risks to last me quite awhile.

Childhood Memory

Tonight some of us went shopping at Target, one of my favorite activities. I especially like their end cap clearance items and their dollar bins at the front of the store. While digging through the dollar stuff I chanced upon an item that brought back some wonderful childhood memories. I found a package of 50 martini hangers. Now you may be wondering why martini hangers would be a part of a young Mormon girl's childhood. Actually it wasn't until tonight that I had ever had a name for these memorable items. I doubt I even knew what a martini was at the time. When I was growing up we use to take frequent trips to Midway to the Timp Freeze (I think that was the name of the place) to buy their soft serve sherbet cones. They were the most delicious things in the whole world. I loved the way they tasted, but even more I loved the tiny, plastic toy that came poked into the twirl. I seem to remember my brother enjoying the plastic swords the best, because they were great things to torture his little sister with, but I loved the animals and the occasional mermaid. I had a pretty large collection of the colorful little creatures at one time and I each and every one of them was important to me. Now you know why I love Target. All those wonderful memories for only $1.00. Now I just need to find me a sherbet cone machine and I can really re-live my childhood!

Tide Pools

This morning the weather was beautiful. The sun was shining, but it was cool and breezy. I put on my new green outfit and my daughter immediately asked me if I was trying to look like foliage. I guess it was a little too green for her liking, but hey, I like green. A group of us decided to take a trip to the tide pools that are about a mile or so up the beach from our condo. By the time we all got ready it was low tide time so we decided to drive instead of walk. The daughter was very excited about that. We had so much fun collecting rocks and shells and enjoying all the little sea creatures that were out and about. The little hermit crabs were cool and I liked watching all the crabs running around sideways.

Crying on the beach

A bunch of us went down to the beach this afternoon to enjoy the sun and the surf. I was reading a book that my oldest daughter had recommended called "Magic Hour" by Kristin Hannah and enjoying it quite a bit. She had already warned me that it was going to make me cry and that I would know when to do it. The closer I got to that moment that I knew was coming, the more I tried to talk myself out of it. I already thought I had figured out what was going to happen, but I had also figured out how the problem was going to resolve its self. I kept telling myself that it was going to turn out fine and that I didn't need to sob. Well, just as I finally realized that the tears were going to run regardless, all of my companions decided it was time to pack up and leave the beach. I wanted to finish my book. I was so close to the end. I told them to go ahead and I'd be up in a little while. They all loaded up all their stuff and headed out just as I burst into tears. I wonder how many people around me on the beach thought I was crying because I had been abandoned. I was going to tell you if I was right about how the book ended, but I guess if you really care you'll have to read it yourself. Anyway, I had a good cry, whatever the reason.

Boogie Boarding at the Beach!

I bet you were all really exited when you read this blog title and thought you were going to get to see pictures of me on a boogie board. Too bad. No pictures of me. Just the teenage part of this team. If I were on a board, who would take the pictures??


Actually, I was going to post the video of her on the board and then off the board and being rolled over and over by the waves and taking people out, unfortunately I was laughing so hard while I took it that most of the action takes place off screen due to my bouncing movement. Too bad. It really was pretty funny. Perhaps someone else should have been responsible for the photographic documentation after all.

You want what?

So, a couple of the ladies drove to the McDonald's drive thru to get some ice. We do it all the time at home, 2 bags for $1.29. "May I help you?" "May I have 2 bags of ice?" Long pause. "2 what?" "2 bags of ice, please." Long pause. "2 bags of ice?" "Yes! 2 bags of ice." Long pause. "You want 2 bags of ice?" "Yes, please." Long pause. "2 bags?" "Yes." Long pause. "Please pull forward." At the window. "You want "2 bags of ice?" "Yes, thank you." "2 bags?" "Yes." "We don't sell ice." Who woulda thought McDonalds doesn't sell ice in California? Luckily, with all the speaker yelling, some people walking to their car heard that they needed ice and told them where there was a 7-11 to get some. All the McDonalds workers lined up at the far window to look and laugh at the silly women from out of town.

Information for Inquiring minds

Today we all went to church here in Carlsbad. We were a little surprised when we started reading the bulletin and learned that it was Fast Sunday, since we had all had Fast and Testimony meeting last week on the first Sunday of the month. We wondered if we had run across an apostate group of church members, but we quickly discovered that their stake had had stake conference last week so Fast Sunday had been pushed back a week. I always appreciate how similar LDS church meetings are regardless of what part of the country you are in. The important things are done the same, you recognize the personalities bearing their testimonies - they just look a little different and have different names. It's easy to feel at home. Many of the testimonies born today referred to the tragic death of a child in the ward. It was obvious that this experience had touched each of the ward members as well as the community. Of course, possessing the inquiring mind that I have I was very curious and wanted to know what more details. Apparently I passed this trait on to my daughter because as soon as we got back to the condo we both headed to the computer to google the name and get the rest of the story. It is amazing to me how easily accessible information is in today's world. In a matter of moments we found several newspaper articles and learned that the little boy was 2 years old and had run in front of his neighbor's car and been hit. It was very sad, but from what we heard at church many positive things have happened as a result of this accident. The counselor in the bishopric shared how the bishopric had been praying about some concerns they had about their ward and then tied in how this experience had helped to alleviate all of the problems that they were focusing on. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us and I am looking forward to the day when I will finally understand and see the obvious wisdom in his plan for myself and those around me. Until then I will just try to have faith and strive to learn what it is I am suppose to be learning as these members of the church seem to be doing.

Baby Blankie has seen better days

Ever since my second daughter was born, she has been quite attached to her blankets. The first one she loved, I made for her. It had baby Minnie and baby Daisy with a pale purple polka dot background. She took it everywhere with her until she was about 18 months old. That was when she decided to put it under the Christmas tree in a box on our driveway that was waiting for a second hand store pick up. It wasn't until after it disappeared that we figured out this story from her limited vocabulary. No more blankie.

Next came the one that she still uses today. It started out cream colored with pink antique toys on it. Her Grandma Johnson made it for her. It has been with her in all the important places she has visited. It's even been places I haven't been, like Hawaii. I use to steal it while she was asleep and then while she was at school (when she hadn't stuck it in her back pack) so it got washed occasionally. When we got ready to leave for California this morning, there was baby blankie ready for a new adventure, although it's been to California quite a few times before. I hadn't really seen the blankie since she moved to her apartment and although I knew it was on it's last legs I was sad to see how far it has fallen. There hasn't been a recognizable pattern on it for a long time but now it is so gray and thread bare you wouldn't be able to see it if there was. I guess since she is going to be 20 quite soon it deserves to be a little worn out. It has had all the color and stuffing loved right out of it. I'm glad she's had it to help her feel safe and secure all her life

Died and gone to Heaven

Today my teenage daughter (for another week and a tiny bit) and I headed off for a week at the beach in California with a group of women from church. We arrived at the Beachwalk Villas in Carlsbad about 3:00 in the afternoon and after about the 4th trip up the long flight of stairs to the Penthouse, loaded down with luggage and groceries, I was pretty sure I was going to die.


However the view of the beach off our balcony and the cool ocean breezes made all the climbing well worth it. It is absolutely gorgeous!


We spent a couple of hours on the beach reading and watching the local "wildlife". It was quite enjoyable. Delicious food, Fun people, and beautiful scenery/weather. What more could a person want?

National Doughnut Day!

So, how many of you knew that today was National Doughnut Day? In honor of the event my youngest son and I took a field trip to the new Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop in East Mesa (right before gas took a 10 cent jump from $4.05 to $4.15 at the QT by my house). We are happy that Arizona once again has a Krispy Kreme and I am happy that it is far enough away that I am not tempted to visit very often.

I have a thought for you to help commemorate the day. I was listening to a talk on tape by Brenton Yorgason about marriage relationships. He had been counseling a couple who were contemplating divorce. He painted them a picture of the Mesa Temple with a cactus in the foreground and on the only spike on that cactus was a glazed doughnut. When he presented the picture, the wife asked him what in the world that was on the cactus. He asked what she thought it was and she said it looked like a doughnut. He told her she was right and when she questioned why the picture included a doughnut he told her this: "The only things you ever tell me about your husband are what he isn't, what he is missing. I want you to focus on what he is. I don't want you to look at his hole. I want you to look at his doughnut. He is a good provider. He has never cheated on you... When you eat a doughnut, you don't worry about the hole, you enjoy the rest of it. I want you to try to do the same thing with your marriage." Apparently that picture changed the couple's marriage and their lives.

Message to my Children - In relationships, try to always focus on the doughnut and not on the hole.

Toe Surgery

My youngest son apparently inherited his father's toes and he suffers with ingrown toenails. In the Fall he had surgery on one of his big toes and today he had surgery on the other one. He went a lot more happily to this appointment, knowing what to expect. He says the only part that hurt was the numbing shot. He really likes to watch his toe get all swollen as the solution seeps into it though. I watched both of the removals and this one definitely was harder for me to watch. I don't know why, but it made me SICK! Hopefully this is our last trip to the foot doctor with him for a while. I thought the paper tray covers they had were pretty entertaining though.


The first surgery took place on a Friday during marching band season and being the mean mom that I am I made him attend the football game that night. I did get him excused from marching in the show, but he still had to play in the stands. His toe was still numb, so I didn't think it was a great excuse to not play and he wanted to go to watch the game. The hardest thing was finding something he could wear on his foot. Can you believe that I couldn't find a store that sells flip flops in October in Arizona? We finally bought some pedicure slippers and he wore that on the bad foot. At least this time he already owned a variety of flip flops - in assorted colors even.

A cell phone - finally!

The teenage boy has been wanting a cell phone for a long, long time. The past couple of Christmases he has been sure that each package he opened was going to be a cell phone but it never was. I have told him for just about as long that I get to hear his disrespectful comments plenty when we are together. Why would I actually pay to have him call me up and say mean things? All he wanted for his birthday was a cell phone. I tossed the idea back and forth a lot, but finally decided that maybe it would be good to have something he really cares about to take away as punishment. Nothing else I try seems to work, although his behavior has been much improved since he returned from the beach, most likely because he really, really wants a cell phone. This morning I told him I was going to wrap up an empty cell phone box for his birthday so he would get all excited and then be disappointed again, but even I'm not that mean. It did make him a little nervous though when he pulled the box out of the t-mobile bag and there was no phone in it. His dad had it hidden in his pocket. We can't make life too easy for him now can we? It also came with a lot of rules attached. Anyway, he spent the rest of the night texting all his friends to share the exciting news. I'm still trying to decide if unlimited texting is a good thing or not. Maybe we need even more rules than we thought of.

My baby is 16

It's hard to believe that my baby boy is a great big 16-year-old today. I still think of him as my little boy rather than someone who is technically old enough to drive a car and date girls! We had a fun day. We let him choose where he wanted to go out to eat to celebrate and he chose Peter Piper Pizza - proof that he is still closer to kid than to adult. He and his siblings had fun playing games and collecting tickets. They didn't have as much fun deciding what to spend those tickets on.


You'd think these two were hounded by "Papa Rotzi" the way they like to hide from the camera!

The Errand of Angels

Some of my friends and I had a great night out tonight. We went to dinner at Aloha Kitchen and I had their fabulous Chinese Chicken Salad. Yum, Yum! I hadn't been there in a long time and it tasted so good.


Then we went to an advanced screening of the movie "The Errand of Angels". It is the story of a sister missionary in Austria. It was filmed in Austria and the scenery was beautiful and the story was very realistic and true to life. If you get a chance you should see it. You can watch a trailer at www.errandofangelsmovie.com. I'm not smart enough to know how to get the trailer on my blog.



I enjoyed the movie a lot and the fact that it was free was icing on the cake. Watching this story brought back so many memories of the time I spent serving in the England London Mission. My mission was probably one of the hardest things I ever did, but definitely one of the most rewarding. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to serve a mission. It has had such a positive impact on my life. My friends felt like perhaps this movie would scare young women away from serving missions. I hope that's not the case. I know when I went on my mission I was scared to death and I knew it was going to be difficult, but I also knew it was what my Heavenly Father wanted me to do and that made all the difference. I know that there are people out there who only sister missionaries can reach.


I felt that I should include a picture of me on my mission. Perhaps I have little movie actress potiential, but I am a true life missionary using a Book of Mormon as a fan after a cross town bike trip on the one hot day of my mission.

Speaking of missions, my twin nephews got their mission calls today. They are both going to missions in Brazil. Very, very exciting! They get to go to the MTC in Brazil and leave the first part of October. One of my good friends has a son coming home from his mission in Chicago this coming week. It's fun to get to experience these memorable beginnings and endings.

Blue Hair

I went to breakfast this morning with some of my friends and this is what I came home to. I guess the summer boredom has already set in. I thought it was entertaining. Especially since it washes out.

40th Birthday

One of my good friends turns 40 today. She thinks that is old and I am thinking she is still pretty young, since 50 is a whole lot closer for me than 40. A few of us went to her house for an early morning "decorating" party so she would know we were thinking of her. We were trying to be quiet and sneaky and things were going pretty well until the street cleaner decided to pull up in his EXTREMELY LOUD sweeper and converse for a while. Actually, we were still able to finish without getting caught even with the added noise. I hope she doesn't have to go anywhere in a hurry this morning.




I am trying to remember my 40th birthday and it must not have been very memorable because I'm not coming up with a lot. My friends did put black balloons in my front yard during the night, but the helium all went out of them by morning, so when I went out it looked like I had all these black bowling balls laying in my grass. I know we did lunch and I'm thinking it was a pot luck at a friend's house, but I'm not sure about that. Turning 30 was a lot more traumatic for me than turning 40. I do remember that. My oldest child started Kindergarten on my 30th birthday and that was a difficult day for me. It was hard to let my little girl leave home, even if it was only for 3 hours a day.

Happy Hour(s)

I had a fun day today. I've had a few too many of those lately and my house is beginning to show the effects, but that is beside the point. My oldest daughter felt bad that she missed out on the puzzle-putting-together party, since she was on her belated honeymoon, so she brought a puzzle and came to visit. She and I spent a couple of enjoyable hours completing it.


I wonder who the first person was to print a picture on cardboard and cut it into little pieces just so someone could put it all back together? For anyone who cares, I checked into this on about.com and found out that the first puzzle was created by an Englishman named John Spilsbury in 1767. He was an engraver and a mapmaker. The first jigsaw puzzle was a map of the world. Spilsbury attached a map to a piece of wood and then cut out each country. Teachers used his puzzle to teach geography. Another invention created for a valuable purpose that somehow got turned into a distraction. Puzzles really are kind of silly things and a waste of time, but a whole lot of fun. I'm sure there must be some mental value in putting them together. Don't you think?

Speaking of Happy Hour, I went to Sonic yesterday for my favorite diet coke with whole cherries and they charged be full price even though it was 3:45 PM which should have been Happy Hour - half price drinks. I bought other stuff for the kids so I didn't really realize it until later, but I was really sad that perhaps Happy Hour was a thing of the past. My sons were more than happy to go check it out today and I am pleased to report that Happy Hour is still happening! Puzzling is much more exciting with some liquid refreshment.