If you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean (179)

Ryan has informed the kids that since tomorrow is a holiday and we will all be home, we are going to be cleaning the house from top to bottom. He says that he wants it spiffy before we go on vacation. That's nice and all, but I don't think that he realizes that our trip is still a week away. That leaves plenty of time for the kids to mess things up again. We'll probably have to have another top to bottom cleaning day on Saturday. The kids bathroom requires an almost daily cleaning. I swear, my boys still haven't learned how to aim. I can't resist vacuuming and dusting at least twice a week and I certainly won't leave for over a week with dust on the furniture. I can't have anyone thinking I'm a slob. I'll definitely be doing that again on Saturday. I also plan to wash every single item of clothing, all the towels, etc. on Saturday as well. I want to make it as easy as possible for my mother in law. There might be the odd load of laundry to do. Pants or underwear or something, but I don't plan on leaving 55 loads.

I need to plan out a simple menu to leave for her. I'm sure the kids are thinking that they'll be able to con her into hot dogs or mac & cheese every night. They're probably looking forward to a vacation from my cooking. No. I'm going to have her make the usual things, whether they like it or not. It's not like I only have 5 recipes to choose from. I try to make sure that we don't have the same thing that often. There's plenty of variety around here. I just plan on having her make the most simple things I can think of. I don't want cooking to be a big hassle. I hope that they don't complain and throw fits for her.

I'm just fine (178)

My appointment with the cardiologist went well. He couldn't see or hear anything clinically wrong. Well, he heard the murmur that I've always had and always will. He said that the location in my heart where the electrical impulses are generated is different than a normal heart. Something about it being in the bottom of the right atrium instead of at the top. It's amazing that doctors can hear that and determine the location of the sound through a stethoscope. He said my heart obviously works just fine, enough said. Nothing to worry about. He said I look healthy which I found funny because I think I look terrible most of the time. I have to go back for an echo cardiogram on Sep. 22 and then a follow up appointment with him on Oct. 1. He'll assess the echo then. I've mentioned before that I have some minor leakage on a couple of valves. He will be able to see how bad it is with the echo. He did say that I should be doing regular cardio exercise. Phooey. I will try to stop being so lazy. I don't know how often he will want me to come back after all of this is done. I'm hoping that I'll only have to go every few years. He seemed to think that the problem was well taken care of originally and I shouldn't be too worried about the future.

Only 23 more to go (177)

Just so you know, I only have 23 more posts until I reach 200. I know there are many out there waiting in fevered, frenzied, frantic anticipation for me to reach this milestone. Why? Remember how I'm giving away a $25 AmEx gift card plus a delicious treat? The whole explanation is there on the right. I only remind you all because I am again calling out all who read this little slice of blogger heaven, yet don't comment. (You may think that just commenting on post 200 will be enough to satisfy me. Wrong. Didn't I just say that I have validation issues? I need to feel like I'm loved. I also don't care if I'm being pathetic by demanding comments. I really just want to prove to Tyler that I am cooler than him. :0) Also, by leaving a comment, you have left me a link to your own blog if you have one and then I can stalk you. You're providing me with new and fresh entertainment.) All are welcome to reap the benefits of my tremendous generosity when I bestow upon you the gift card. Think about it. Since it's a "generic" AmEx card, you will be free to use it wherever you want. It's not like I'm making you go to only Walmart or something. So, all family, friends and strangers out there who look to me to brighten up their day, start letting me know how wonderful I am. Now. I'll cry myself to sleep tonight if you don't.

I can't stand this (176)

I told you I was ornery today. I HATE this commercial. I've seen it way too many times (once was enough) and I just saw it again. The woman drives me CRAZY! I think it's her teeth, lisp and how her voice inexplicably and unnecessarily goes really deep at times. Plus, the whole concept is really stupid. I guess it's really the whole package. I was searching for a picture of her or the commercial and found that I am not the only one who can't stand the commercial or her. People are ranting about the hideousness of it all over the place. That makes me feel a little bit better about being mean.

I don't know if today is the best day for this (175)

I didn't sleep very well last night = I'm kind of tired and will probably be a bit ornery. Actually, I haven't really been sleeping that well this whole week. I'm having a hard time adjusting to life after back to school. It's not like I stayed up late during the summer. It's also not like I ever got to sleep in very late. I think 8:30 was the latest. It's just taking time to get back in the swing of things. I've been tired by around 4:00, but when I try to go to bed at say around 10:30, I feel wide awake. I haven't been getting to sleep until after midnight and then I'm sleeping fitfully and then I'm up and at it again at 7:00.

I hope that despite the fact that I am tired and will probably be a bit snippy that I can be cordial to the doctor. I'm going to try and not get too irritated, even though I'm sure he won't be doing anything that's irritating. It's just that when I'm tired, everything is irritating.

Bless his little heart (174)

This isn't the recently repaired computer. Notice the ancient monitor, but he looked this same way just tonight while fixing the current one.

Ryan finally totally fixed the computer. It was a big project and I'm glad it was him and not me doing it. Everything is back to normal.

I have my stupid doctor appointment tomorrow. hooray! I hope the small size of that word conveys my total lack of enthusiasm. I'll go, but I know that I won't like it. No Dad, nothing you say or do will make me happy that I have to go. You're also not allowed to claim responsibility for me going, even if I did say that before.

I need to round up some luggage for myself to take on our trip. I think I heard that Rachel (Ryan's sister) has a suitcase that's as big as a house. I think I will give her a call and find out if I can borrow it. (Rachel, if you're reading this, you can comment using your gmail account and let me know that way. That, by the way, goes for any family member who reads this blog, has a gmail account, but doesn't comment. I'm looking at you Dad. I set up one for you. You can do it. If you don't start, I will just have to assume that you don't really love me. If there's any other family member out there who wants to comment on my side-splitting hilarity, but doesn't have a gmail account just let me know. I'll invite you to open one. Can you tell that I have validation issues and want to feel like I'm loved?)

Something unexpected (173)

Out of the blue, Cameron decided yesterday morning that he would eat school lunch. I passed out and then when I came too, I was very skeptical. Yeah right he wanted to eat the school lunch. He tries to trick me all the time into thinking that he'll do something that's off the wall for him. Then, when faced with actually having to do what he said he would do, he won't. Very frustrating. He insisted that he would eat and so I went over to the school in the morning to put some money in his account. I asked the secretary to have his teacher call me. I wanted her to follow up with him, make sure he actually got some lunch and then remind him that he had to eat it. She didn't call until right after the class had gone in for lunch. She said she was pretty sure that she had seen him with a mouthful of food, but that she would ask him after recess if he had really eaten. I told her I knew that it was kind of a pain in the butt, but that's the kind of thing you have to do with Cameron. He sometimes needs lots of reminders to do things. Well, she never called to say that he didn't eat. I hoped that everything had gone well and he had.

I was told yesterday morning by Cameron and Tyler that it was unnecessary for me to walk over to the school and pick them up. They said they could make it home just fine on their own. Apparently, I'm already too embarrassing. Fine. It's not a big deal for them to walk home. The school is just around the corner, maybe 1/2 a block away. So, I stayed home and waited for them. At around 3:00 there was a knock at the front door. I had forgotten to leave it unlocked for them. I answered it and there was Cameron standing on the porch, looking very excited. The first thing out of his mouth was, "guess what I did today. I ate chili." This statement also caused me to pass out. He's never willingly eaten chili in his entire life. I will make homemade chili from time to time and he never wants to eat it. He complains mightily the entire time. So, once I came too, I asked him if he was serious. He insisted that he had eaten. I quizzed him about all of the other things they had, did he like it, would he eat the school lunch again? He said that he had Doritos (don't know if that's for real) and a brownie. Yes, he said that he loved the chili, and yes he would eat it again. I was and still am in shock. I wanted to know if he had eaten all of it. He said, "well, no. Apparently, you only have a certain amount of time to eat. You have to do it really fast and then you have to go out for recess. I didn't have time to eat it all." Yes, he really talks like that.

Ryan asked him all of the same questions when he got home from work. He asked him if he liked everything and did he have time to eat all of it. He said to him, "the chili was so amazing, I got distracted by it and didn't really eat anything else." I hope that he finds all of the other menu options just as "amazing" and continues to eat.

I'm glad he knows what he's doing (172)

Ryan is almost done nursing the sick computer back to health. He also fixed the Bluetooth keyboard so that I am now sitting directly in front of the tv like a civilized person should. He tried explaining some of what he was doing, but all I heard when he was talking was a buzzing sound. It went in one ear and out the other. I'll just let him fix it if I mess it up again.

Typical Cameron day today. I met he and Tyler as they were coming out of the school this afternoon. He didn't have his lunchbox with him and when asked, he did that kid mumbling, "I don't know." We went into the building to check in his classroom. His teacher had gone home early because she wasn't feeling well. Sick on the first day. I wonder if that's a sign of what things will be like this year. Another teacher said that a lunchbox had been found and that Cameron's teacher had been asking around in all of the 1st grade classes, but no one claimed it. I don't know why Cameron didn't admit that it was his, but it sounds about right that he didn't. The teacher said check the office and the lost and found. It was there. Good. I picked it up and realized that it felt pretty heavy. I opened it up and his entire lunch was still in there. Uneaten. We had cooked chicken nuggets this morning because he agreed that would be a good idea and he promised he would eat them. I also sent some Pringles, a package of Chips Ahoy cookies and a Capri Sun. He didn't even try to open anything. At this time it was 3:00 p.m. So that meant that he hadn't eaten since just before 8:00. I asked him why he didn't eat it, he again mumbled, "I don't know. I guess I wasn't hungry." I said, "So what did you do? Just sit and stare at the other kids while they ate." He said, "Yeah. Pretty much." This sums up everyday Cameron in a nutshell.

Sick (171)

My computer in my bedroom has contracted a virus. It 's kind of a nasty one too. Something to do with Spy ware and trying to get us to install anti-virus software. It keeps going to a blue screen and says that we have a problem and should do something about it. It then fades out and acts like it's restarting. Anyway, it's not good. Ryan will have to reformat it. He's thrilled. There should be some good times coming up around here. Thankfully, I still have our computer downstairs that I can use. It's just a little bit of a pain in the butt. It's nice to be able to see really well because our 46 in. television is the monitor. It's not nice that our wireless keyboard isn't working right now. I'm having to use a regular, old wired one. Poor me. The tower is located about 6 feet away in our media rack in the utility room. The cord obviously only reaches about 4 feet. I've stretched it as far as I can, but I'm still about 2 feet away from the tv and looking at it sideways. What a pain. Yes, we have all of our equipment set up in a rack. It's what my husband does for a living. No stupid, regular shelf stereo system for us. Everything is automated (I guess that's the right word). If you ever saw the Osbourne's and the remote and system Ozzy couldn't ever figure out, that's what we have. I can't figure it out either, which is why I don't use this PC very often. I hope Ryan can fix my little baby soon. I have many fabulous posts to write. The first day of school, my witty insights on life, etc. I wouldn't want anyone to miss out. I'll try to do it from downstairs, but like I said, it's a pain. I'm not very patient, I don't know how long it will last.

Because I forgot... (170)

Kristen timidly asked me the other day if I was ever going to post a picture of Avery's birthday cake. I sort of forgot to do it. I'm very sorry. I won the cake at my Enrichment Night Angel Auction. Yeah, that's right. I intentionally bid on a birthday cake (even though I know how to do it myself and Kristen was kind of puzzled that I did) and asked Kristen to make it when I knew she would be 7 1/2 months pregnant. All because I didn't feel like doing it myself. Yes. I can be a bit of a jerk sometimes. Thanks for making it Kristen, hurting back and all. Avery loved it. (I'm sorry that the picture is a bit dark. It didn't seem that way when I was browsing for one, but it sure looks dark here.)

What to do? (169)

Cameron is very picky when it comes to food. So, I'm not exactly sure how Monday is going to go down. I'm pretty sure that he won't eat school lunch. I'm also pretty sure that he won't want what we can pack in a lunch either. He still only eats bread in it's toasted form and even then it's only cinnamon toast. So, that counts out all forms of sandwiches. Not just because of the bread, but because he doesn't like peanut butter, jam, mayo, mustard, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes or any kind of lunch meats. He hates pretty much all soups. So, I couldn't put some in a thermos for him. I guess he does like all of the side accoutrement's that we would be able to pack. Like chips, string cheese, fruit snacks, Capri Sun, cookies, etc. There's just no "main" course I can think of that he will eat. He loves macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, fries and ramen noodles. Perhaps, I can convince him that we could cook those things prior and then pack them in his lunch. No, he usually hates leftovers too and he would consider those things to be on the level of a leftover. He prefers fresh. (He inherited that from his dad. Thanks a lot dad.) I hope we can figure something out so he doesn't starve.

Tyler's Contest (168)

Tyler has been on a marathon posting run today. He's reached 50 and has probably gone beyond. I haven't checked since this morning. He wants to up the anty on his "contest". He says he needs lots more comments. I had to ask him just what this contest was supposed to be about. Apparently, all he'll do when he says he'll "talk" about you, is make a tally list of all who have commented. If you feel like making him feel special, go and leave one. What a crazy kid he is.

I need to clean out my ears (167)

This morning, Avery and I were in the kitchen together. I was making a bottle for Peyton and she was eating a Little Debbie Fudge Round while she watched. Our conversation went something like this:

Avery: Mom, when I'm done with this I want to watch Spongebob the Crown. (The Spongebob Squarepants Movie)

Mom: OK.

Avery: You have to put it in now. I want to watch it right now.

Mom: Wait until I'm done making this bottle.

Avery: OK. Mom, when I'm done eating this I'm going to run amok and I'm going to watch Spongebob the Crown.

Mom: What did you just say?

Avery: I said I'm going to watch Spongebob the Crown.

Mom: No, the other thing you said.

Avery: I said I'm going to run amok.

Mom: Do you even know what you're saying? Are you sure that you really want to do that?

Avery: Yes I know what I'm saying. I'm going to run amok.

Mom: That doesn't sound like a very good idea. You might get into some trouble.

Avery: No I won't. We're just going to run out of milk and we'll have to go buy some more.

Mom: Oh.

The deed is done (166)

Tyler and Cameron are now co-habitating. Why they want too is beyond me. I would kill (I almost mean that literally) to have a room all to myself. I have no idea how long the euphoria of it all will last. I'm guessing that it won't be very long until they're down each other's throats. When that happens, I of course will force them to stay together. There will be no switching back to original rooms. They asked for this and so I'll give it to them. Kind of sadistic on my part.

Oh yeah. I did jinx myself by speaking out loud the fact that we have had no accidents. Avery had one yesterday and two today. Sigh.

Share & Share Alike (165)

I've finally decided to let Tyler & Cameron share a room for real. Avery has agreed to switch bed frames with Cameron so that we can set up the bunk beds again. She's been using one and Tyler the other. We're going to go to the store this morning and buy some paint to make both frames all matchy, matchy again. Currently, one is red and the other is white. I forced Tyler to clean the room yesterday. I gave him two hours to do it himself. Of course, he did nothing. He whined and whined and whined about how hard it was to clean his room. He couldn't do it himself. I just didn't understand he NEEDED my help. I kept telling him that he wouldn't like it if I came to help. There would be a lot of yelling and a lot of throwing away of "precious childhood memories." (How he refers to every single piece of paper he's ever written on. He's a very prolific writer.) He never listened. It took me about 2 hours once I finally decided to help (do it myself). Again, we removed about 3 shopping bags and one kitchen garbage bag full of garbage. He's such a pack rat. I was amazed at how much crap he had in there. Especially because we did a deep cleaning about 4 months ago and took 4 large trash bags out. Cameron's a bit of a pack rat as well. Although not quite as bad as Tyler. I hope I'm not asking for trouble by putting 2 of them into 1 room.

So, I'll be off to get the paint. (Spray paint so that it dries quickly.) I'm sure we'll all argue about the color. They always want to paint things about 30 different colors. We'll move everything in and try to organize it. They will probably complain about where I want to put things. I will try to accommodate as much as possible, but being the mom I will insist that I have the final say. Then, I'm going to sit back and wait for the headaches to begin.

Labor Day 2007 (164)

This is for the benefit of someone I stalk. Her husband just got his concealed carry permit and she's a little bit worried. I commented to her that my husband comes from a shooting family. It's what we do for fun. We go out to the desert, or some other similar place, and shoot poor, defenseless rocks and abandoned radio controlled cars. Just for fun. Now, before I became engaged to my husband, I had never shot a handgun. I'd tried shooting rifles a few times, but I wasn't very good at it. I'm not too proud to say that I'm actually ok with a handgun. Not exactly a dead eye, but not terrible either. I kind of took to it right away and I really enjoy doing it. I'm not in a position to carry right now. Even if I had my permit, I probably wouldn't do it because my kids are still too young. In fact, I don't know that I would ever actually carry. I just want to say that I have my permit. We've never hidden from our children the fact that we have a gun. (I actually want some more.) They know what they are and they know they're not toys. I think when you make it a mystery to them is when you make it dangerous. If you don't instruct them properly and allow them to see them, or try to hide things from them, that's when they get sneaky and try to find things out on their own. Anyway, this is me with my .38 on Labor Day last year.

He's too little to be doing this (163)

I don't know why this is a little blurry.

Peyton started climbing up the stairs a couple of weeks ago. I'm not ready for him to be doing this. I want him to just be a baby for a little longer. He's already not very interested in cuddling. He crawls and gets into things. He thinks he's a big kid and wants to play with his brothers and sister. He wants to be independent and I don't want to let him.

It's quiet...too quiet (162)

I just realized that we haven't had an accident around here since the 13th. Are you kidding? Has it really been 4 days? Have I just jinxed myself by saying this? I sure hope not. Ben & Jerry told me that things would get better. I wanted to believe them, but I wasn't ready to take them entirely at their word. I'd better knock on some wood or something now.

Primary is going well. We actually have a teacher for every class. That hasn't happened since I think, well, never. Let's just hope my good luck holds. Our Sacrament program is scheduled for October 26th. (That's for the grandparents who will want to attend.)

My kids have been very impressed with the Olympics. Being the swimmers that they are, they are especially impressed with Michael Phelps. Tyler & Cameron are both saying that they want to be just like him and swim in the Olympics someday. If they want to have a dream like that, I'm all for encouraging them. We told them that we would look into some sort of organized swimming team. I know that they exist. I've seen things about them in the flyer's that come from rec centers. I'm not saying that I expect to see either of them winning 8 gold medals in about 12-15 years, or that I even expect that they will go to the Olympics. It just never hurts to encourage physical activity. They already swim and enjoy it. What's the harm in letting them do something they enjoy?

I have an appointment with a cardiologist on the 28th of this month. I'm not looking forward to it. I don't want to wear one of those stupid 24 hour monitors. They get in the way, they itch, they're just plain annoying. I hate the stupid echo cardiograms. Blah, blah, blah. I don't want to go, but I'm going to do it.

Time to stop being random. I'm going to bed.

10 DAYS!!!!!! (161)

School starts on August 25th. It's about time. I remember when I was in school, I would get so annoyed with my mom when she would say she couldn't wait for it to start back up. I'm sorry. I understand now. I'll have 2 (Tyler & Cameron) in all day. It sounds like heaven. Avery will start preschool on September 23rd. She'll go every other day for 3 hours. Perfect. I'm very excited and don't get me wrong, I love all of them. They just need to get back to the learning. There's too much fighting and boredom going on around here. I try to provide distractions and diversions for them. It doesn't always work. I'm sick of breaking up all of the fights. Yesterday, on what number of fight I can't remember because I lost count, I just left the room and let Tyler and Cameron kick the crap out of each other. There was some hitting, kicking and biting and then, strangely enough, there was some laughing. I think I might try the ignore tactic more often.

Phish Food has healing properties (160)

So, I had a talk with my good friends Ben & Jerry last night. I needed someone to soothe and comfort me. Someone to giggle with and tell me everything was going to be just fine. They helped to calm me down, but I still don't know what to do about Cameron and Avery. I just know that I can't turn to Ben & Jerry every time they have an accident. Their kind of comfort would eventually make me as big as a house.

Do you need an appointment to get in the loony bin, or are walk-ins welcome? (159)

Cameron was doing so well with his issue. It's been at least a couple of weeks since the last accident. He had one this evening and then he lied about it. So, he got the opportunity to go to bed really early. Avery has picked up his stinky ways and has been having multiple accidents everyday for I can't remember how long. NOOOOOOO!!!!! Isn't it enough that I've been dealing with this from Cameron for the past THREE years. Now I have to deal with it from her as well. I can already tell that she's going to be just as difficult. She seems to find the whole thing funny. I don't know what to do. I've tried being really patient and understanding. I've tried yelling and screaming. I've tried taking away favorite toys or privileges. I've tried ignoring it. I've tried making them wash out their own underwear. (They really couldn't care less.) I've tried spanking. I've tried solitary confinement, or going to bed way before the other kids. Nothing I do makes it uncomfortable enough for them to give them a moment's pause and not have the accident. Why won't they just get their butts to the bathroom instead? Why couldn't I at least have a break from this for a while? You know skip a child or something. I'm doing this back to back. If Avery follows Cameron's pattern, I'll be doing this for three years more. What if Peyton has the same trouble? He's one now, if he's "potty trained" by 3 in two years and then continues to have accidents until he's at least 6, that's really 5 more years that I'll be doing this. Plus, I'll be dealing with 2 at the same time again. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! Someone take me away NOW!

Arrested Development (158)

I really miss this show. I have all 3 seasons on DVD, but sometimes I wish there were more. Why did it have to end? I think I'm going to watch it tonight.

Bubble Yum (157)

This stuff is totally contrary to one of my biggest fears. You know, having my teeth crumble and fall out, or having gum get stuck to them and not being able to get it all off. The gum in this ice cream is some of the worst. Ever. It can send me into a full on panic attack trying to get it off. I really hate it if it gets stuck in my molars. Why then, do I eat it? I find the ice cream itself to be quite lovely. It has a nice, light bubble gum flavor. It reminds me of being a kid. It makes me think of a time when my Grandma Cutler took me to Harmons on 4100 South and bought a cone of it for me. They used to have an ice cream counter at the back of the store. No, I won't tell you how long ago that was. Let's just say a "while ago". Whenever I eat this, I have to chew the gum really fast and then swallow it, or swallow it almost immediately. No chewing. I can't chance having it get even slightly stuck to my teeth.

Thanks for being crazy Emily (156)

It has been very quiet around my house for the past 48 hours. Ahhhhh! I have enjoyed every minute of it. Ryan's sister Emily, took Tyler, Cameron and Avery to Delta with she and Rusty on Thursday afternoon. Darrell & Heather also went then. The rest of the family went last night. We were party poopers and didn't go. Emily asked us a couple of months ago if we would like to, but we decided then that it would be too close to our vacation. We thought that we should save the money we would spend on gas, for t-shirts for the kids that say, "My mom & dad went to London/Paris and all I got was this stupid t-shirt." Emily said she didn't mind taking the kids even if we didn't want to go. I thought for a second and said, "Well...ok! Fine with me!"

I went for a lovely pedi yesterday and then went and had new tires put on the car. Ummm...I thought that I was supposed to be saving money by staying home. Oh well. They were in pretty bad shape. The right rear one was going bald, splitting and had metal from the guts poking through. I didn't want to be leaving our crappy car for family to drive the kids around in while we were on vacation. It's ok if tires fall off while I'm driving (yes that has happened), but someone else is another story. That's all I intended to have done when I went it, but I knew that the front rotors weren't great and the alignment was off. I asked them to fix those as well. Turns out the u-joints needed to be replaced (you mean the rattling and clanking sounds it's been making aren't normal), the front end aligned, the rotors were too thin to be machined and had to be replaced, the brakes as well. Oh yeah, and the master cylinder was going too. Yeah, that's how I roll. I like to live on the edge and see just how close I can get the car to being totally worthless before I decide to go and get it fixed. I'm just glad it's done now and I no longer feel embarrassed as I'm driving because it doesn't sound like the entire thing is rattling on it's frame anymore.

Oh, Baxter! You are my little gentleman! I will take you to foggy London town... (155)

I was just reading Kristen's blog and she said she only has one month to go until their baby is due. I looked at the floating baby on the side and it indeed says, "Only 30 more days until I pop out of here". That got me to thinking...I headed back to my own blog and looked at my constantly ticking alarm clock on the bottom. I only have 30 more days until I pop out of here. I didn't forget that I was going, I just didn't realize how soon it was. Pretty much everything is ready. The hotels are booked. We've had the train tickets to get from London to Paris for about a month. Things with the kids are sort of settled. I guess I need to really figure out what to do with them. I do still need to get a suitcase for myself and figure out what the weather will be like there so I know what kind of clothes to put in it. We gave Ryan one for his birthday because the one he has is kind of trashed. You'd think that when I was buying it yesterday with the intent of him using it for our trip, I would have thought to myself, "Wow! It's only a month away." No, I didn't think that. I just thought, "I'm amazed I remembered he needed one." I was having a bit of a hard time trying to come up with something to give him.

On to his birthday. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I really love Red Iguana . That's where I took him for dinner. I asked him where he would like to go and when he said he didn't care, I told him we were going there. If he wasn't going to decide, then we were going to a place I love. He says that he eats out so much that everywhere seems the same to him. Poor boy.

P.S. I still love chocolate covered cinnamon bears and I just ate 4 of them for breakfast.

Happy Birthday Ryan! (154)

Now to tell you the story of his birth. Wait, I wasn't there for that one. I was a mere 8 months old at the time. I guess you'll have to get that story from his mom. However, I do know that after he was born, his dad went home and was so keyed up, he ate an entire package of hot dogs with bread instead of buns.

I love him very much and I'm very glad that he has reached the ripe old age of 32. Despite the fact that he never wears a seatbelt. "Click it, or Ticket" you big dummy. (He's never going to listen to me.) Despite the fact that he's extremely careless :0) while playing basketball and constantly injures himself. (His ring finger was pretty seriously jammed almost a year ago. He has to litterally pry his wedding ring off his finger when he wants to take it off. Maybe that's a good thing.) Lastly, despite the fact that he's lived with me for the past almost 10 years and been eating my cooking and putting up with my mood swings and my temper (in my defense, I put up with his) and still thinks that he can make me less stubborn, (NO!) and still comes home every night to do it all over again. I wonder if doing all of that means he loves me too.

Happy Birthday!

I started to sew (153)

I said that I wanted to start doing some more sewing. Not for economic reasons. Creative ones. Although, the shirts only cost around $5.00 to make. Not too shabby. Well, I started last night. I was going for a simple, folksy, peasanty type look. Only 3 pieces. Front, back and the sleeves. I then used some fold over elastic to make the "casing" around the neck and sleeves. I'm contemplating posting pictures of them, but I'm not sure if I want my blaring mistakes to be viewed. Plus, they are a little, is young, the right word. I'm sure it's just the fabric. Yellowish/orange gingham and a simple paisley. I bought some inexpensive stuff to start out with. I'm way out of practice. This way, if I make a mess of things, I don't feel so bad. I think I might wear one of them around the house today. I'm not exactly sure if I'm ready to debut it to the public yet.

I took Home Economics in the 7th grade. We made homemade Espirit bags. You know, the big, square cotton bags that had a pocket in the middle front and it said Espirit on it. Does anyone remember those? I'm probably really dating myself by mentioning them. I had an original as well as my homemade version. I remember how badly I wanted one and how excited I was when I finally got it. It really wasn't very practical, but I thought that I was pretty cool for having it. (I've tried finding a picture of one. Sadly, I cannot.)

I even made other projects, like dresses. Dresses for myself and for little girls. I have no idea where they are now. Hopefully, they've been burned by now because they were probably hideous. I just remember that I had a lot of fun working on them and that's why I'm trying (emphasis on the trying part) to sew again.

Go see him (152)

Tyler is excited to announce that he has hit a milestone. His 30th post. He's wondering why he's had a shortage of comments lately and is challenging everyone to pony up and leave one now.

Argh (151)

I had a draft of the post that I intended to be published as my 150th. When I actually published it, stupid blogger published it in the chronological order it was written. Maybe I should learn how to use this thing correctly and get them to publish in the order I want them to be. So, scroll down and read the post that I wanted to be 150.

Geriatric Crushes

I mentioned that my crushes can tend to veer to the slightly older gentleman. Some of these are not so "geriatric", but they are definitely quite a bit older than me. One of them isn't even with us anymore, but I still love him desperately.

I ROCK THE BLOG (150)

I am not a "non-frequent blogger". Unlike some people I know. You know who you are. I actually really enjoy venting in this fashion and I don't mind letting other people read all about it. I know that I'm kind of prolific. Many are probably sick of all of the crap I write about, but I don't care.


I've been seeing contests of all sorts on the blogs I like to stalk. I've decided to pretend I'm cool too and be a copy cat. I also wish to buy the love of others and force them to continually return to my blog to check on what number of post I'm on. So, in honor of my future 200th post, I'm going to shower someone with a fabulous gift when it happens. It will go like this: when I reach the magical number of 200, leave a comment about the post. (I don't mind if I don't know you. "Meeting" new people is what makes this whole blogging thing fun.) I will assign each comment a number and then randomly choose one number. If you don't know how to comment, I have a link to my email in my profile. Email me and I will add your comment to the list myself. I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on this fabulousness. Lucky winner will then receive a $25 American Express gift card and some sort of a treat to enjoy while you read my 201st and beyond posts. If I know you, I will hand deliver the gift to you personally. If you live in the Salt Lake Valley and don't mind venturing into the WVC (and I don't think you could possibly be creepy) you can pick it up from me. Possibly at a prearranged spot, or something like that. Otherwise, I will mail it to you. This will obviously be necessary if you live out of the state of Utah.


So, continue to live vicariously through me. Laugh (mock all the stupid things I do and say), cry (tears of joy that you are not me) and swear (cursing yourself for continually coming back).

This was written just for me

Ohhhh. This article is right up my alley. I have a few celebrity crushes and this is exactly why I do. Yes, sometimes my crushes can veer along the geriatric lines. I don't care. These men are hot.

Down East Basics

My Down East Basics items of clothing are some of my favorite things. I received their fall catalog last week and these are a few things I would love to get.

Not so perfect Family Home Evening's

We've been trying really hard to have Family Home Evening on a regular basis. Sometimes they go well. Sometimes not. On a scale of 1-10, tonight was around a 4. We'll keep working on it. Practice makes perfect.

Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bears

This past Christmas, the Deyoung family gave us the traditional good neighbor basket/plate of goodies. Included were some chocolate covered cinnamon bears. I didn't know what they were. (When the bears are covered in chocolate, it's kind of hard to tell.) They looked good and I intended to eat them even though I didn't recognize them. No matter what. Chocolate was involved and I never pass it up. I just thought that they must be chocolate covered nuts. I bit into one expecting a crunch and instead encountered a chewy, cinnamony goodness. I nearly squealed with delight and said to Ryan, "Oh, these aren't nuts, they're cinnamon bears!!!" Gobble. Gobble. Gobble. His response was kind of "Huh. Whatever." I loved them and had to keep myself from eating the whole bag right then and there. I determined that I would make more for myself. I wanted to be able to enjoy this treat all throughout the year. Well, thus began a long, eight month journey. Since Christmas, I have been searching for cinnamon bears. Nobody seemed to carry them. Why are they so hard to find? Why did everyone want to make me sad?

I finally found some on Friday at Super Saver of all places. They're the Albertson's brand, they own Super Saver. I don't go there very often. I usually only go when they have a sale on some type of meat and I want to stock up. They were in the candy and cracker/cookie aisle. Strange that they would be in the candy aisle. When I saw them I had the same reaction I did when I had my first taste of a chocolate covered one. I screamed and yelled "CINNAMON BEARS!" My kids thought that I was crazy. I ran the 3 feet over to them and practically ripped the bag getting it off the hanger thingy. I immediately marched to the baking aisle and bought milk chocolate chips and the rest is history. I melted half a bag of chips in the microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until it was melted and smooth. I then dumped in a few bears at a time, stirring to evenly coat them and then placed them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. (I only used about half of the bag of bears as well. So half a bag of chips will pretty generously cover half a bag of bears.) I then put them in the refrigerator until they set up. It only took about 20 minutes. They are so good. I didn't realize until I started searching for a picture of these little yummies that they are probably a Utah exclusive thing. BYU exclusive to be exact. (This makes sense because the Deyoung's are big BYU fans.) I found a blog of someone who now lives out of state, but told of her discovery of them while at BYU and how sad she feels that she can't get them where she is now. Well, here's the answer. Just make them yourself.

Calmer

I've calmed down since last night. I'm glad that the phone situation was resolved peacefully without the loss of blood. It just kind of makes me sad that there are people in this world who don't really have a conscience. Honestly. Taking the phone of someone who spent an hour helping you because you didn't know what to do. (Like I said, this whole thing started at 12:30 in the morning. So, after changing the tire and then having to chase her down to Tooele and then having to come back from there, he didn't get home until 4:30.) Not to mention the fact that she didn't even really know how to operate the phone in the first place. What did she think she was going to do with it? Sell it probably. The thing cost like $500.00. So, she must have seen the potential to get some serious coin. Oh well. It won't do me any good to continue to get worked up over it. I'm just happy it's back. Time to let it go.

Thanks for the memories JERKFACE

Ryan was able to recover his phone from the thieving, skanky ho who stole it from him on Wednesday night. I don't want to go into great lengths about it. Maybe I do. He was hangin at the Holiday with his BBFF's on Wednesday night after their usual b-ball game. At around 12:30 a.m. two damsels in distress rolled into the parking lot on their rim. Ryan and the BBFF's offered to change the tire for them. The driver tried to find the tire iron and could not. She asked to borrow a phone to call her aunt because it was her car. Ryan let her borrow his. She called multiple times and the aunt called back, but the tire iron could not be found. Ryan and one of the BBFF's offered to go the BBFF's dad's house (it was real close by) and get an iron. Another BBFF went to Auto Zone to buy one (he said he needed one anyway). Ryan took the phone back from her before he went. They all returned with tire irons and got the flat changed. Meanwhile, she borrowed the phone again and called her aunt multiple times while it was being changed. The damsels said thanks and were going to drive away. Ryan said, "Where's my phone?" Driver damsel said, "Oh, we left it over by your truck." Ryan immediately thought that was fishy and looked over by his truck, saw it wasn't there and turned to catch the license plate number. A BBFF thought to do the same thing. The damsels were driving away real casual like, so they were able to catch it. He immediately borrowed a BBFF's phone and called the police. A policeman arrived and told him that nothing could be done about it because it was a civil matter now. Ryan had entered into a verbal contract with the damsel by allowing her to use his phone. What crap. What has this world come too? Being nice to someone and then being victimized by them doesn't qualify as theft. Ryan and the BBFF's heard her say that she was going to be meeting her aunt at the Flying J on the way to Tooele. (That's where she lived.) The policeman said if it was him, he would go there and try to catch them. They all jumped in a car and were off on an excellent adventure. While in the car, they continued to call his phone multiple times. One time it called back and the damsel didn't know that it did. Ryan listened in for the time it took to get to Flying J. At least 20 minutes. He heard music and the radio stations being changed and then finally someone said, "Is that thing on?" Ryan said hello and then click. One of the BFF's, through a connection that shall not be named, was able to trace the license plate of the car. They got to the Flying J, looked up the name of the owner and called the house. He spoke to her and her uncle who she lives with. Hilarity ensued. Now, time to kind of make a long story short. After multiple versions of the story from her and her being in no real hurry to get it back to him and him kindly insisting that she must, he got it back this afternoon. I think that she probably crapped her big, fat pants a few times trying to figure out how they found her. However, I'm sure she's not remorseful. Anyone who would steal a cell phone from a Good Samaritan after they had helped her, obviously has no scruples. I just hope that she got a little scared. I really am grateful that he got it back. I prayed real hard that he would. (I have her cell phone number and I would love nothing more than to leave her a scathing voice mail.) I'm glad that Ryan took the high road in all of this crap.

Crocs

Amanda Fankhauser recently posted a rant about these shoes. Today I found an article online from Newsweek about them as well. Please to enjoy.

WWG

"Wrestling with God"

I saw this on the marquee for a church today. Now, I know that it isn't meant to be funny, but the images it conjured up in my mind kind of were.

Today's August 1st, yesterday was July 31th (oneth)

For some reason, Cameron can't figure out the proper pronunciation of dates that end in the "th" sound. He also says "whathe" day is it today? He gets the whole 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and so on after that. It's just the 31th date that throws him off.

I finally have to fight off the "Mondays" and get out today. My fridge and cupboards are looking a little bare. It's a little like Old Mother Hubbard's house around here. I've resisted as long as I could. We are now out of milk, butter and all other things considered to be essential staples. I'm not looking forward to it. Taking all of my kids to the grocery store is not my idea of a good time. I'd rather lay down in the middle of the street and wait for the garbage truck to run me over. I've even secretly contemplated how lovely it would be to just "run" to the store without telling them. However, I know that's highly illegal, it's a really dumb idea and if I got caught, the state would take them away. Still, it's nice to imagine how quite it would be at the store all by my lonesome.