Decisions, Decisions

I'm having a party on Friday night. I hope you'll be there.

I am really looking forward to feeding my friends, and CANNOT decide on a menu. At this point, I am picturing myself, the day of, wheeling my shopping cart up and down the aisles, and whatever jumps in the basket gets to go home with me.

The theme is 'Pamper Yourself', as I am hosting the party for Sarah and her new business/hobby, and wanted the food to be (somewhat) indulgent.

I am open to suggestions, and so far the list of possibilities are: lettuce wraps, nachos, chicken chili with cornbread, enchiladas (both green and red), or now I'm leaning towards lasagna (mom's recipe, of course).

I'm not as worried about the dessert, though there was a time where that would have been my main focus. I think I'll just do brownies, but I sort of would like to incorporate autumn, maybe apple or pumpkin something. Probably just brownies, though.

I wonder if I will stick to lasagna. I forgot to mention that I was also considering doing some breakfast-type stuff, because let's face it, that asparagus stuff at our Heifer brunch was to die for.

Whatever I settle on will be yummy.

So come hungry!

Once There Was a Snowman

I am really appreciative of the wonderful weather we have been blessed with recently.

Especially because I am just not ready to face winter. Do you remember the Ice Age we experienced here in Utah last year? Does Al Gore know?

So while I am so happy about the warmth, I am so sad about the early darkness that plagues us this time of year. The sun has completely set by 8:00 these days, with the darkness mocking and taunting me, reminding me of that which I cannot avoid: winter.

I seems like I had just given my kids a talk about how there has to be opposition in all things, when David decided to turn the tables on me, reminding me that without the winter, I would not be able to enjoy the summer.

Ok, fine. But can I fly south for this winter?

I'd settle for west.

This Just In

And I mean just...

Maddie: What did you guys have for dinner?

Mom: BLTs.

Isaac: I had a B.

Isaac: Mom. Are you laughing at me? What's so funny?

I Found It!

Finally.

The USB cable to my camera has been missing since the move.

Yes, yes. The move was in April.

So now I can bring you pictures that are old. Dated. Almost Forgotten.

Like the first day of school, nearly a month and a half ago.

So much has changed! Maddie's hair isn't long enough for a pony anymore, and she's back in braces.

Maybe I should see what else I can find in the garage. Money? My figure?

Sigh

Too Tough To Choose

I just got home.

Hopefully the DVR schedule held up it's end of the bargain. (the bargain being that if it recorded my shows I wouldn't take a hammer to it)

Dilemma: which do I watch first?

Grey's or The Office?

Darn These 600 Miles

I need to be home today.

Today Jill was in a car accident.

Today Jaye's baby is sick.

Today Jordan sliced open his finger and busted his knuckle.

Crap! Has anyone checked on Jamesson?

Take It From Me

Holy frickin' frack!

I'm sorry for the strong language, but ow.

And I mean ow.

When you go to get your eyebrows done, and they wonder if you would like to have them 'threaded' you either 1.) say $@%# no! or 2.) get ready for the worst pain EVER.

I thought that I had it done some other time. Apparently not.

The pain is sort of what I imagine a tattoo feeling like. It felt like a razor blade slicing in to my forehead 8-10 times just over the top of my brow.

Just in case I haven't made myself clear: I do NOT recommend eyebrow threading.

But on the other hand, my eyebrows did turn out nicely.

No, I'm sticking to my guns. No threading!

What? Who? WHY?

What the heck?!

I don't know what's more disturbing...

The Fringe, with the women dying after delivering fetuses that immediately grow to a full-sized adult and then die (this all, of course, after they've had their pituitary gland removed and then the guy forcing himself on them)

OR

Someone trying to eat Claire's brain on Heroes.

Who comes up with this new level of ickiness?

Must See TV

It's finally here!

Premiere week!

Which shows will you be watching/DVRing?

Our DVR will be in overdrive, recording the likes of Grey's, The Office, Big Bang Theory, and continuing on with The Fringe (ewwww!).

But tonight is THE night.

Many, many months in the making, thanks to the writer's strike.

(drum roll please)

Presenting the Season Premier of Heroes!

I personally don't care, but what joy it brings to my over-worked husband. He even changed the background on his phone to display the Heroes logo.

And now I am in trouble. What was I thinking?!

I did not provide proper Heroes premiere munchies. And I'm not in the mood to throw together a cobbler like I did last night for the Emmy's.

There goes my chances for winning Wife of the Year.

Bummer. I really thought that 2008 was going to be my year.

The Big Night

I love the Emmy's. I love having DVR so I can fast forward through the political crap.

We're an hour in to this year's Emmy's and I have one thing to say:

Did you see Love's dress?!

I loved it!

PS Ms. Applegate, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The Most Adorable Couple

I wanted to be clever and make a list of things that happened since this couple married 80 years ago.

But in my usual fashion, I took a shortcut.

How about if I just link you to Wikipedia, and then you can look for yourself.

Oh. You need a shortcut too, eh?

What Would You Do If I Sang Out of Tune

How far do you go to help a friend?

There are a couple of people on my mind. One is about to lose everything, including her home. Another is suffering physically.

There have been times with these two when it has been easy for me to give/serve.

Right now it's not coming to me as easily. Possibly because their situations are pretty hopeless, I don't know where to begin, whatever I give won't be enough...

Well that's just a big sentence full of excuses, and at a time when they need help the most.

I'm restless. I know I should help. But I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

And then I remind myself that we should lose ourselves in service.

Thank goodness for prayer. I can start/continue praying for my friends.

In doing so I'll probably figure out where to begin. And then I'm back to my original question:

How far do you go to help a friend?

All in a Day's Work

Today is one of those days that gives me guilt.

After I took the kids to school, vacuumed, and cleaned the bathrooms I went and got my hair did.

I even went so far as to (gasp!) get highlights.

THEN (yes, there is more) I went to Tai Pan Trading.

Alone!

(tifferbob, this store was made for you.)

And THEN I met Sandy at Kneader's for lunch. But I ran out of time, so we got our lunches to go and went our separate ways. (BTW: Sandy booked a cruise for her and Steve; they leave in two weeks.)

No worries, I brought home 1/2 dozen Kneader's cookies for David and the kids. That should just about cover it, right?

And now I'm home, and I'm too tired from my outings to fold laundry.

When is it going to learn how to fold itself?

Children of the Corn

Utah, Utah, Utah.

What will they think of next?

Good ol' Thanksgiving Point is gearing up for their big Halloween season.

It's a treat for kids to go and take part in the fall festivities, but the big ticket item is the maze. I've gone twice with Maddie and Isaac, and twice with Special Ed. It's fun and makes for great photos, especially on a blue-sky day.

Previous mazes have been ________ (cut, shaved, harvested - fill in the blank) in themes like dinosaurs, Olympics, and none other than Napoleon Dynamite.

I passed the billboard featuring this year's theme on the way home from work today.

Any guesses?

Presenting: this year's Cornbelly's Maze!

Yes, that's the actual aerial shot.

Holding the Eyelids Open

disclaimer: following is a bunch of boring moaning and groaning. I guess it's a good bedtime read.

Typing "what a day" just doesn't do it justice. I started out with an agenda. A tight agenda, knowing that I had places to be and laundry to fold.

Take kids to school (check)

Mop kitchen floor (check)

Visiting teaching (check)

And then she called.

Maddie.

The poor girl called twice from school because her (orthodontic) appliance came loose and she was in a lot of pain.

I hummed and hawed. Too many factors to make a quick decision.

Our orthodontist is only here on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and is at their other office in South Jordan on the others.

And I haven't even mentioned David's company BBQ up the Provo Canyon that I was supposed to be at. At 2pm.

But as I said, the poor girl was hurting.

I picked her and brother up from school, made the call, and we were on our way.

Her and I expected that the ortho would take out the appliance and put it back in properly.

Nope.

They took it out and put all of her top brackets on. During an emergency appointment.

Blah, blah blah, we were on our way.

Got to dad's BBQ 1/2 hour late, the storm kicked up, the storm moved on.

Too Eagle Mountain.

And here's where I became the recipient of pity.

Maddie and I had to rush off to Eagle Mountain for our softball game.

The storm hung over long enough for the game to be canceled, giving me a much needed hour on my couch. Hallelujah.

I should have slept. But no, not when there are numbers to plug in to the new phone.

I'm exhausted and have a really bad feeling that I'm going to be late to work tomorrow.

Cross your fingers for me.

PS Oh crap! Just remembered that I burned up all my gas running to and fro today. I really am going to be late.

Missing Cousins

I showed aunt Jaye's new pictures to Maddie and Isaac just now.

Isaac matter-of-fact-ly said: "That's the world's best 4-year-old."

More Addiction

A very special thanks to my sister, Jill.

Thank you so much for getting Maddie addicted to John and Kate Plus 8.

Now, as you may have guessed, I am well on my way to being completely hooked.

I'm going to need more DVR memory.

2:15 Appt.

I'm headed for my 4-month-check-up with the gastroenterologist.

Do you know what that means?

Stepping on a scale.

Sigh

The Long Awaited

After a lifetime of saying "I'm going to" (okay, not a lifetime, but all summer) I finally did it.

And after putting up with my crappy Razor phone for nearly two years, I upgraded.

Isn't she cute?!

It was quite the ordeal, thanks to the online tech support leading me astray. But another tech-ee got me through it and my little friend is on her way. (no, not my period, my phone)

Legacy Question

The new Legacy Parkway has opened.

What is it? A freeway, 12 years in the works, to help ease the traffic between Salt Lake City and it's northern 'burbs.

Most of us in Eagle Mountain are salivating at the thought.

The grand opening of Legacy Parkway brings up the age old question:

Why do we drive in a Parkway and park in a Driveway?

I Have Questions

And I hope you have answers.

These free blog backgrounds.

Why are they free?

Why would someone put such cuteness and so much time in to something, and then give it away free on the internet?

What's the catch?

Are they now entitled to all of the content?

Do all of our cute stories about our kids and our fiascoes and getting old and moving to new states and successes and our failures belong to them now?

Sure, we put our words out there. For any and all to see.

But really it's just you reading it.

Right?

No Dying

No. No Dying. Just a car accident. And a lot of blood.

Pinching Millions of Cheeks

Did you ever see the commercial with the little spring flower, I think it's a pansy, that has just blossomed and the lady reaches down to the petal, as if pinching its cheek?

I love it!

This week I feel like I want to reach out and pinch millions and millions of cheeks.

It was suggested to us that we seed our backyard instead of doing sod.

We were reluctant at first, but hey - it's about one tenth of the cost.

The seed was planted on Labor Day, and 8 days later the first few green blades peaked out at us.

I love it! I go check on the 'kids' often to see how they're doing, and to see how many of their siblings popped up since my last check.

We won't be able to fully appreciate our new lawn until spring, but so far it's sort of like going to the nursery and staring at all the little blades wrapped in their pink or blue blankies.

We've Got to Laugh at Ourselves

I like Utah.

But sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get used to it.

So I'm really grateful for the moments that make me chuckle:

I listen to the same radio show each time I drive to work. One member of the church, two non.

One day there was a story about bloods and crips (gang members) within the prison system in California.

"Do they have that here?"

"Yeah, but in Utah the prison gangs are called Mia Maids and High Priests."

Hee Hee Hee

Today they were talking about 'Pressed Ham'. (Ahem) That's when someone not only bares a full moon, but then presses it up against a window.

This story was then shared...

Several years ago, a rebellious teenager (now prominent Lehi law enforcement officer) was upset with his mom. To get back at her, and while she was delivering her Relief Society lesson, he gave her his pressed ham up against the RS room door. Oh yes, it was a windowed door.

Righteous.

Follow Up - Grey's

I saw a commercial last night for the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy. It showed a bloody McDreamy and a screaming Meredith.

I'm sorry if I just made the wait longer.

Nueve y Once

It might be because I'm home and actually have time for thoughts to exist in my brain, but I feel a little more reflective today than I have on this day in recent years.

I very much love and appreciate the tradition here in Utah for the YM & YW (and their faithful leaders) to deliver flags to our front yards on these patriotic days.

Even though we just had flags ten days ago on Labor Day, the flag seems to stand out brighter and braver today.

As I wrap this up, a simple thank you to all that provide our freedom seems pretty inadequate, but here goes: thank you.

Two Weeks Until Grey's

I predicted it! I knew it! And I called it before the season finale was over. McDreamy gets in a car crash on the way to break up with what's-her-name. I knew it.

A Couple of You Were Wondering

She's Taylor Swift, girls. The one who sings about Drew looking at her.

3 Things

#1) The last celebrity guest that made an appearance at David's holiday meeting today was Toby Keith. Too bad I hate country music.

#2.) It's fall girls! I made my way to Dillard's Clinique counter and picked up my bonus. Make sure that you check Macy's in a couple weeks for their bonus week. Double Bonus.

#3) You gotta love the Discovery Channel. (sigh) If Maddie had any questions about the miracle of life, Mike Rowe took care of that on Dirty Jobs. I came home from soccer practice and my 11-year-old is on the couch watching the extraction of (baby making fluid) from turkeys. (more sighing)

She's There Too

Maddie is going to lose her mind when she gets home from school and sees the clip (that David emailed me) of her singing today.

He's There

So I think it's safe to say that his little panda movie will be out on DVD soon.

Stay Tuned For Further Updates

It's that time of year again!

David is off at his big Christmas meeting at Dallas, and what do I care about?

The celebrities.

(other meetings I care about what he's going to bring me)

In the past I've gotten text messages from this massive meeting, him alerting me to Steve Carrell or Hannah Montana being on stage. Other times he simply dials me and holds his phone up to hear people like Bruce Willis performing.

(So far) I've only gotten one text, and that is one of our favorite female Olympians is there:

The Third Degree

Was I naive enough to think that THIS was going to be the only post of it's kind?

Here we go again.

Twenty minutes ago it became apparent that I didn't ask that most important question: are the parents going to be home?

They weren't.

But the teenage older sister was. Fat lot of good that did.

Maddie was invited over to a friend's house for games and a late night. She was invited to stay until 10pm, but at 9:30 I was ready for her to be home.

It was a bit chilly as I walked a block to get her. And as I got closer, I saw 6 girls running around, chasing each other with sparklers.

Yes.

Sparklers.

Of course, Murphy's Law, just as the thought 'someone is going to get hurt' runs through my mind, I hear my daughter's voice saying "I burned my finger".

I didn't let on to my anger/frustration, whatever - you fill in the blank, until we got home. I didn't want to give the neighbors a show. And when we got home she was lucky that all of the downstairs windows were open, keeping me from yelling.

We rinsed the burned fingers. I suppose I raised my voice a bit. She cried a lot. We hugged a lot (that's what she likes to do when she's busted). I asked her over and over if she has learned her lesson.

I've learned mine.

Remember to always ask if the parents will be home.

He's Just Not That In to You

Maddie is so Jaye.

She's on the couch, holding the cat against his will.

He's got the low pitch, under-his-breath growl trying to summon my assistance.

She has a sheet wrapped tightly around his body to prevent him from ripping her to shreds.

She maintains that his unhappiness is due to a catfight he got into last night. (trust me, I'm the lightest sleeper in the world: there was no cat fight)

If he doesn't watch out, he'll end up trapped under an up-side-down laundry basket.

And she'll convince herself that he wants to be there.

Clinique Girls: Man Your Stations

I'm thrilled to have my friend Tiercy with me in the blogging world.

But I feel like I should include a long list of disclaimers and warn her that this is my darker side.

This week has me feeling sort of restless. The political world is going to be in my face for the next 59 days or so. How can something take so much energy, without me moving a muscle?

I suppose I am using a muscle. THE muscle. My brain.

My brain is trying to figure out how I feel about the VP choice announced this week.

My brain is trying to figure out why it wasn't Mitt Romney and his financial genius that was chosen.

My brain is wondering why Harry Reid wonders why.

Switching gears, my brain is also wondering why I went not once, but twice to the Cheesecake Factory in the last 3 days. My stomach, on the other hand, isn't speaking to me. My tastebuds love me.

I suspect that I'm in to a full-on ramble at this point. But don't let me interrupt.

Oh. One last rant: David gave me 6-day notice about his trip to Dallas. Shouldn't there be a penalty when the duration of the trip is proportionate to the notice given on the trip?

Good thing it's almost Bonus Week.