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Well, I thought that I'd post a post. I haven't been doing anything terribly exciting--just getting ready for Christmas and working. MBC and ARK came to visit again, which was fabulous. I made a gingerbread house on Saturday. We even made real gingerbread, with a few alterations, since we didn't quite know what was in it when we bought the ingredients. Most of the siblings are home and Mom and Dad should be getting home from their cruise in a couple of hours, so I think we are ready for Santa to come. Of course, I won't be anywhere near him, as I still have scarring from early childhood: ).
I've been filling in for Ma as primary pianist the last several weeks and played for the middle of the program. In the middle of the program, I couldn't find my sheet music, so we had a "technical difficulties" pause and someone found me the music. Of course after the program, I found the music in the pile of papers (6 papers). Yeah, I was a bit embarrassed, but you get used to the whole public embarrassment thing.
Work is starting to get busy with the annual audit coming up in a couple of weeks, and all of the annual meetings at the end of the month.
Have a Merry Christmas!
So, I'm participating in my cousin Eliza B's untag.
1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Onion Prius--doesn't real sound like a good one. It sounds more like an advertisement for a new odor of car freshener2. YOUR GANGSTA STAR NAME (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Chocolate Almond Asics--depends how you pronounce the last part, whether it would work or not.3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Blue Cat.
Boy, that sounds fierce.4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you where born): Rachel Payson. This one does actually sound like a soap opera name, I must admit--I must be destined for greatness in bad T.V.5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (first three letters of your last name, first two letters of your first name):Greme--Maybe they got the name of the Gremlins this way.6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Green lemonade--saving the thirsty around the world with dyed beverages!7. NASCAR NAME (the names of your grandfathers): Earl Wallace--just wanted to make it unnatural for those of you who know my family.8. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher's last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Johnson Jakarta. Johnson is kind of a manly name. I hope that I don't need to change genders to have this job.9. SPY NAME (your favorite season/holiday, favorite flower):Fall Lily--Companion to the Fall Guy, only better than he is.10. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you are wearing right now): Peach Hoodie. I think I'm going to be the next character on Strawberry Shortcake. There may be a brawl to oust the current peach character, if there is one.11. HIPPIE NAME (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Honey Bunches of Oats Maple. I think perhaps that would be a new kind of cereal rather than a Hippie name. It's a long name for a Hippie to remember in their psychedelic state.Remember, Green Lemonade will quench that thirst you have.signed, Peach HoodieP.S. You're going down Peach Blush!
As is the tradition with this, I tag No One.
I know, I know. It's about time I posted again. I thought that I would post about my fabulous weekend that I had, as well as other happenings. I went up to SLC to pick up a work project and then spent the rest of the day shopping with Ma and Loo. We finished about 10:30 p.m. The next morning I had the maintenance done on my car, which only took an hour-and-a-half, (I know the punctuation is screwy on that phrase) even though we got there at our appointed time. When we got back in the car, it stunk to high heaven. We thought perhaps they had just spilled oil, so we rolled down the windows and aired out the car. We returned to Loo's house, and I chatted with S.Q. who was there for a few minutes, and then I went to hang out with Ark. Ark and I commenced with more shopping as that is what we do best together. We didn't actually accomplish a lot, but I did get a fabulous new coat that is sort of a lime green, or as FarmerBoy says "the color of a baby's poop after he's eaten strained peas". I like it--the coat, not baby's poop. I would post pictures, but my camera batteries are dead, so I cannot take a picture. Anyway, following our shopping expedition, we picked up the illustrious and cold-medicine doped MBC, before picking up pizza and going to the new Bond movie. It was good, but not as good as the last. It's hard to beat the initial chase scene in Casino Royale.
Moving on with the week. Work has been pretty slow, though I've had to deal with several angry people. I was very polite on the phone, though I was thinking mean thoughts in my head. Also, Pa looked at the car this morning and discovered that the oil cap had been left off when the oil was changed. I was not amused, nor was I impressed. I took the car to the proper place to have the oil changed (most of you know where that is), and they screwed it up. I called them up on the phone, was polite as usual, and proceeded to make the dealership aware of their error, and that they would need to come down here to fix the problem, as it was quite a distance to drive. They were happy to oblige, as they probably didn't want me suing them. When the technician got to the house, he apparently thought that it was clear out in the middle of nowhere (D'ya think? Why did you think I wasn't about to bring the car to you 70 miles away, so you could fix your mistake?) Anyway, hopefully they've refilled the oil, replaced the cap, and washed the engine.
So, there you have it--all of the excitement in my life.
Happy Trails!
P.S. If you didn't notice, this blog is written in the stream of consciousness style, my personal favorite.
No, this is not a distant relative of Zulu. Hulu is my new favorite website. It is great for the slow days at work. It is basically TV on the internet. You can watch any show that is available on the individual channel sites (e.g. I just finished watching "House" from fox. In addition, you can watch old T.V. shows. My favorites this week are "Welcome Back, Kotter" and "Benson" and I'm hoping to move onto "Hill Street Blues" next. There are also several feature length movies. Most of them are B movies. Right now, some of the better ones are "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Some Like it Hot". There are just short commercial breaks during the show--30 seconds as opposed to 5 minutes on T.V. Want to try hulu out. Click here.
As I was on Hulu, I checked to see if they had old Sesame Street episodes to entertain Nuku while Cyn is not feeling well. They don't have full episodes, but there are clips. Then FarmerBoy asked me to see if they had the Alligator King short from Sesame Street. Alas, they did not; however, I found it on youtube and FarmerBoy asked me to share it specifically with Coo, Cyn, and & Nuku, and a few others. Anyhow the link to it is here.
Hope you all enjoy this clip. I found it enjoyable.
Alrighty, folks. I've been tagged by my cousin Eliza B., to post the sixth picture in the sixth folder of "My pictures" folder and explain. By the way, I tag no one as Eliza B. tagged most of the people I know. This is my Uncle Isatalo on his High School graduation day with my Grandpa Earl. Most of my photo files are photos that I've scanned for use in past, present or future family history projects, so that is what this is from. Have a fabulous day, Uncle Isatalo. The end. Tomorrow's topic: Hulu
In case you couldn't guess from the photo, I'm someone who put her finger in a light socket. I may have to shave my head to get rid of all of the ratting and the colors.
So, I've been trying since 10 a.m. this morning to get tickets to "Wicked" on the advance sale. However, there are so many people trying that the website is moving beyond slow. One time I even got the tickets reserved, but could not purchase them in the 13 minutes required, as the website is too bogged down. I have also been trying over and over and over again on the phone with no results and I am getting VERY frustrated. If any of you out there know any tricks or how else I can get tickets, please let me know. Thank you. The end.
Today I thought that I'd put the odd words people searched for that directed them to my blog, as I am lacking on the creativity front today.
boonie air freshener
--manure of course
I want excitement in my life
--don't we all
calling someone a lemming
--very important to know what this means before you do it
pressed wood dangers
--self explanatory
cancer danger carpet
--ditto
bird stuck in car grill
--this is one of the most frequent searches that leads people to my blog. Apparently this is a very common problem in the world.
silage bag photos
--when you need a photo, you need a photo.
pink pajamas for women
--I am very stylish
pink happiness background
--would make me sick. A more common search of the past is pink ballerina newspaper. Who knew so many people wanted this.
SMALL TOWNS
happiness in small towns
halloween in small towns
small town newspapers
--a recent newspaper article talked about the food growing on the banks of the sewage pond. It must be fertile ground!
In other stats, I've had visitors from the following countries:
*United States
*Israel
*Canada
*Sweden
*Australia
*United Kingdom
*Slovakia
*Saudi Arabia
*Some others, but they were over a month ago.
I was tagged recentlyish to share six quirky things about myself. I did not forget this, I just couldn't think of the things. Here it goes:
1. I won't eat square hamburgers, even with the corners broken off.
2. When I go to bed at night, I turn off the light and cross the room in the dark without turning on a lamp. I consider this quirky, since my room is a pig sty. I try to memorize where all of the junk is before I cross the room and am usually successful crossing the room safely.
3. I have a weird thing with numbers. I made cookies yesterday and there was enough dough for 6 dozen and 2 cookies. I made six dozen and saved the extra dough for my brother. My alarm clock is always set for a number ending in 4 or 9.
4. I close my eyes when I shower.
5. I start singing weird, made up songs when I am tired.
6. I don't sleep sitting up, meaning I don't sleep in cars, planes, trains, buses or any other kind of vehicle. Perhaps if I traveled first class...
There you have it, that is the quirkiest that I can remember. I now tag, Mama G, Mandyhead, Cynthia, Eliza B, Suz E Q, and Roo. However, you don't have to do it if you don't want to.
So, yesterday, my Dad brought me home a flyer about a multi-stake singles' dance yesterday. On the top was all of the typical information, regarding time, place, etc. However, the amusing apart was the small print at the bottom:
"Dress: Since Brothers will be coming from LDS General Conference Priesthood and will be in Sunday Dress, we suggest everyone attend in Sunday Dress. However, dress is officially "Dressy/Casual". You can wear jeans but please remember that LDS standards of dress and conduct apply. No hats, shorts, grubbies or immodest clothing in length, style and fit. Attire must cover shoulders, chest and mid-drift to below the knee. Dresses should not lift or rise above the knees when dancing or twirling. No alcohol, same sex dancing, unkind or indecent behavior, piercing except for ladies earrings. All divorces must be final. Best dress suggested; clothing should be neat, clean and cover garment lines."
While I do have to applaud the author for their use of the word, "however" I think they went a bit overboard with the instructions.
They should have also added the following disclaimers: "Dance only with those within 15 years of your own age. Not responsible for the reactions of those in attendance. Shmoopy couples may induce vomiting. Please eat accordingly before the dance. Should you have any questions, please consult the manual immediately. This dance is not for everyone and those who are nursing or pregnant should consult their bishop before attending. Side effects include cynicism, spinsterhood, and in rare cases marriage. Organizers of this dance are not responsible for any bad experiences, but do claim credit for any marriages that occur as a result of attending this dance. "
So this weekend, we have had many visitors, though none of them were hippopotamuses. The honored guests were MBC & ARK. They came down special to help put up corn. They also came down a several weeks ago for the opening ceremonies party, that I hold every time there are Olympics. You may read about the party on their blogs, available in the list to the left, as they update theirs more regularly than I do. (Summary--there was food from many nations, and not all chocolate is created equal). It is so nice for the MBC and the ARK to visit me out here in the boonies. Moving on, we picked, shucked, blanched, cut, and bagged a total of 900 ears, and came out with around 200 two cup bags of corn, post-cob. The boys usually do the picking and the shucking. MBC was nice enough to help with the picking this go round. Then we women folk finished the rest of the tasks. Needless to say, it was tiring and also a lot of fun because you get to sit around and talk with everyone.
Other special guests included Uncle Isotalo and Auntie CG, who are becoming cruise aficionados. Loo, hubby, and son also came, and of course everyone helped with the corn process. It is always nice to have visitors.
Today, I substituted in the nursery and learned that if I can say hippopotamus, then I can say, I'm sorry. It actually wasn't too bad. I am not a person that is known for my love of little children. I deal better with older kids. There were three kids and two leaders, I got to sit most of the time, I got a treat, and all of the kids were potty trained. If we would have naptime, it would have been even better.
Tomorrow, S.Q. leaves to go back to the Zoo. He will be missed for many reasons besides that he fixes all of our technology problems and helps with any work we ask him to. Have a fabulous holiday weekend and remember:
"If you can say hippopotamus, you can say I'm sorry."
So, when I went over to my parents' house for breakfast this morning, FarmerBoy and S.Q. told me that there were two peacocks out by the shed. Of course, Mom and I had to go see for ourselves. Indeed there were two peacocks out by the shed, standing near the corn. Why and how, you ask. I don't know. We suspect that someone had seen FarmerBoy's happy, free-range chickens wandering around and decided that it would be a good place for peacocks to live out their lives. We've had dogs dropped off at our house before. In fact, that is how we acquired most of the dogs we've had. We don't know if the peacocks are hens or immature males. They do not have the colorful tail feathers that peacocks are known for, though they do have a plume on the top of their heads. If the peacocks stay around, we will have to come up with names for them. Well, I'm off to look up peacock facts.
So, I went up north this weekend (this means to Provo or Salt Lake, for all of you non-boonie-ites) to see some ex-roommates. I had a lovely time. Then on Saturday, I went shopping. I'd been looking through my closet and decided that most of my dresses/skirts are black, brown, or denim, and thus I needed to add color to my wardrobe. I learned that shopping is not nearly as fun by yourself. I tried on some dresses at the store, and couldn't tell if they looked good on me or not. You would think I could, but alas, I apparently often count on a second opinion from someone. I did buy two new dresses at a total cost of...thirty dollars! So far, at least one of them looks good on me. The other is a slinky red dress, which is not my normal color, so I don't know what color of shoes to wear with it. Do I have to wear red shoes or is there some other basic color that would work? Any input from readers with fashion sense would be appreciated. If you don't have fashion sense, please do not add your input as it will just confuse me. Thanks for reading my blog and have a great day!
I just read an article that told me that my life may end in early demise, due to things in my house. There is a list of 10 common household items that may be dangerous. Here they are:
1. Mothballs--Whew! I don't use these because I'm too lazy, so I just let the moths eat holes in my clothes--oh wait, they are all over the place in my Grandma's house that I live in. Check.
2. Pesticides--I don't use pesticides, I just kill the bugs with my hand, shoe, or whatever heavy item is handy. Safe.
3. Pressed Wood Products--Darn it! I look at pressed wood paneling as I sit typing this. Also, all of my high-quality furniture is made of pressed wood. I may have to get another furniture supplier. Check.
4. Carpet--The article refers to new carpet. Thankfully, there has been new carpet in the house I live in for 40 years. Carpet was made better back in the day and lasted longer. Safe.
5. Laser Printers--Uh-oh. I've used laser printers since they came out. In fact, there is even a color laser printer at my house. I wonder if color laser printers give off nastier things than black and white ones.
6. Lead Paint--Check. I was born in the seventies. Duh!
7. Air Fresheners & Cleaning Solutions--I try my hardest not to clean, so that keeps those chemicals at a minimum. I don't know an air freshener strong enough to override the smell of manure, so there is no use in trying. Safe.
8. Baby Bottles--No babies now or in the near-future; however, my bottles were probably toxic, but I'm not dead yet. Check.
9. Flame Retardant. I don't own any, so I may die in a fire, but the retardant won't kill me.
10. Cosmetics. I almost never wear makeup anymore, today being an exception. The people that come into my office smell of manure and have manure on their clothes, so I consider that I look and smell better than them if I shower occasionally. Safish.
Am I going to change my ways because of this report. Not really. Will I continue using all of this cancer causing, death inducing items. Probably. Such is life. The replacements for the items probably will be found to have different death-causing tendencies, so what's the use. I'll be happy and enjoy my life full of printers, pressed-wood products, and lead-based paint.
I bet y'all thought I was never going to get another car. Hah! I actually did it--I have a new car. O.K. I have half of a new car. I had decided just to get an American-made (cheaper) car that was within my budget; however, the one that I wanted to look at was rented out. In the meantime, my Dad got annoyed with the prices at the gas pump, and my parents decided to go in half on a new Toyota Prius (a hybrid). My Mom went up a week and half ago and managed to get one for us in a week (the usual waiting period is 6 months). Anyway, we picked it up on Saturday. Mom was going to pick it up on Monday, when she was going to Provo, but I wanted to go, since the car was half mine, so we went up Saturday. FarmerBoy came with us. I drove around Provo and to Payson. Mom drove from Payson to Nephi and FarmerBoy drove from Nephi home. S.Q. drove to church on Sunday, and Dad took it for a spin yesterday. We wanted to make sure that everyone knew how to run it-as you don't use a key with it.
Our current average gas mileage is 41.5 mpg, which is fabulous. I've noticed that you become obsessive about watching your mileage, always trying to increase your mpg. The electric engine mostly runs the car under 30 mph and then the gas engine kicks in above that. The car isn't going to win any stoplight races, but that isn't why we got it. It managed up the Nephi hill just fine (when FarmerBoy wasn't trying to improve his mpg).
Weird things about the car:
1. Pushing a power button rather than turn a key to start the car.
2. Having a rear-view camera. I'd rather look out the window.
3. Controlling all the auxiliary functions with a touch screen--Air, radio, etc.
Other great things about the car:
1. Great space for long legs. So far, everyone that has sat or driven the car fits just fine.
2. Lots of little storage compartments
3. Auxiliary/MP3 jack--My Zen/Zun (can't remember which one I own) sounds great in the car.
4. Automatic adjust air-conditioning to keep the car at a comfy level.
So there you have, my description of the car. Right now the odometer is somewhere around 250 miles. I'll let you know how it performs in the long run. Enjoy the photos above.
You know how they say that everyone knows your business in a small town. Much of that "business" is learned from the local newspaper.
At work every week, I get several of the newspapers from surrounding small towns. These newspapers have a unique style of their own. In one of the papers, no real news makes the front page--you have to do some digging. You have to dig deep for it in the paper, if it is there at all. One great thing about many small town papers is the police blotter. I have to say that I find police blotters anywhere particular enjoyable. You should always look for your relatives and neighbors in the police report, just so you are up on their lives.
Another important section of the small town rag is the Society page. It lists births, deaths, and marriages, and missionaries (this is Utah) often on the same page in the same style. One has to look closely at the heading to see if the picture is for a wedding or a death or a missionary homecoming/farewell.. Another important thing about this page is that you find out how everyone is related to each other. Parents, siblings, and children are always listed in Obits, and the Marriages always have at least parents listed, if not the grandparents also. The wedding announcements also tell what the couple has been doing, what they'll do after marrying, and occasionally, how they met. Graduation announcements are important, as they can help you keep up-to-date with kids you graduated, important information like who is married, how many kids they have, where they are living, and where they are working.
Another integral part of the small town paper is the Senior Menu. This is published every week and lists what the senior will be serving each day of the week. This way you don't have to go out only to find that you don't like the food that is being served.
Real news can be found by scouring the paper. Check the want ads for who is selling houses--their names may not be listed, but the address will be! Also, don't miss the letters to the editor, as they often tell what has been going on in the community, and who is upset with whom and why.
And there you have it--the intricacies of a small town newspaper. There much more (and less) to them than meets the eye.
As today is Friday the 13th, I followed some links to read about superstitions. In my family, we find Friday the 13th good luck as it is the day my Dad was born. Also Farmer boy was born on the 13th as was Uncle Isatalo. (though not on Fridays, however their birthdays fall on Friday the 13th sometimes--shocking, I know.) I'm not a very superstitious person, but I decided I'd share some reasons why I'm destined to have bad luck for the rest of my life (other than not passing on gazillions of e-mails that I've gotten).
Bad luck for:
1. Sitting on a table without one foot touching the ground
2. Passing someone on a staircase
3. Fastening a button in the wrong buttonhole (lots of bad luck for me on this one.)
4. Walking under a ladder
5. Mending a garment while I'm wearing it (I've found the bad luck here is that you poke yourself with the needle.
6. Opening an umbrella in the house
7. Singing before breakfast
8. A bat flying into the house (family, take note of this one. I'm not sure what the luck is for shooting the bat in the house with a BB gun.
9. Hearing a rooster crow at night (or anytime you are sleeping. It wakes you up--duh!)
10. Cutting my nails on a Friday
There you have it--all of the reasons that I'm doomed to have bad luck for the rest of my life. You should take a look at this website.
I found it all very amusing. And no wonder I'm not married, I read all of the wedding traditions as well. I don't think I could handle doing everything correctly on my wedding day--I'd just be doomed to an unhappy marriage.
Happy Birthday, S.Q.!
I recently hit the big 3-0 mark in my life and have been reflecting on how I have changed as I have gotten older. I've been thinking I was 30 for the last six months anyway, so it wasn't much of a shock to my system. First, the taste buds are dying. Foods that previously made me gag, no longer do (except for fish). I used to despise fresh tomatoes. I still pick them off my food, but I don't die if I miss one. Second, it is more important that shoes are comfortable than cute. This does not mean that cuteness is not important. The best shoes are stylish and comfortable. Third, gadgets only need to do what they are meant to do. A phone should dial another phone. It does not need to text, take pictures, get on the internet, or play music. Fine if I can get S.Q. to do it for me, but I don't care to find out myself. Fourth, I watch a lot more PBS than I used to. Historical shows, nature shows, and of course, British comedies, and my favorite, The Red Green Show. This show, in turn, leads me to believe that I can fix anything with duct tape, which I believe is true; however, the quality of the fix is in doubt. Please share any other unconventional signs of aging that you, my readers, come up with.
P.S. My space bar likes to put an extra space in half of the time and it is driving me nuts!
I recently acquired 2000 pre-stamped envelopes for the office, and have now used 28 of them, as well as 3 envelopes that were provided with the bills. What, you ask, does this have to do with living dangerously. I'll tell you. I LICKED them all myself. Yes, even though there is the e-mail out there touting the "fact" that cockroach eggs are found on envelopes and will embed themselves into your tongue and grow into very large cockroaches inside your mouth, I took the plunge and licked the envelopes--with my tongue, no less. I know that my courage astounds you. You may later see my photo attached to that e-mail.
In other news, my Mom and I were eating lunch in my office, when we saw movement in the form of a mouse. I tried to ignore it, but could not after seeing it several times. The mouse then had the gall to climb on top of my fridge and dig around in my emergency food supply. If we made noise, he would pop up his head and look at us as if we were friends calling "hello" to him. Mice are not my friends, as you may know from earlier posts. The solution to the problem--I dumped all emergency food in the trash and took it outside, and my Mom was kind enough to set a new mousetrap to catch this "un-friend", so that the food foraging would stop, though she did say that the dead mouse in the office (which I cannot find, but only smell) probably died from overeating. By the way, it was a deer mouse we saw, so I also live dangerously as Hanta virus comes from deer mice. Deer mice are different than the mice drawn in kindergarten classes. They have very distinct features and look like very intelligent creatures, who condescendingly look at you daring you to outsmart them.
The Elephants
Last Saturday, I went to the State Republican convention as a state delegate. FarmerBoy was also a state delegate and Mom went up to help. It was quite a bit of fun, though it was long (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) The voting took forever, but it is fun to see and get all of the fun stuff that the candidates are handing out and just to watch the process work. I always say "You can't complain if you don't vote". I figure if you can't manage to take the couple of minutes it takes to vote, then you don't have the right to complain, since you aren't doing the small part that you can do as a citizen.
The Cows
Today we moved cows. We move them a couple of miles is all, but part of that is down the highway. We don't use horses, we use our feet, 4-wheelers and cars to move them. Mom and I stop traffic (or try to) at our beginning point and the ending point (on the highway). Don't be jealous of our outfits. Sometimes cars pay attention to us and stop and other times they don't. Luckily, this time they all stopped pretty good and only two cows turned back. Earl and FarmerBoy followed behind to keep them moving and to encourage them to continue forward and not to turn back. Dad was on the four-wheeler and drove ahead of the herd to open the gates and wait at the desert, ready to count the cows as they come through the gate. The cows pretty much know the way, as they have been doing it for years. They even turn at the right spot most of the time. As my car has been relegated to a farm vehicle, I used it today. I had a visitor part way through, though I think he was scared, as he wet the seat. I know that grosses half of you out. Oh well. (Mom was kind enough to clean the seat). Yeah, for a smooth event! Those of you who are family members can view more on Flickr. The rest of you will have to be satisfied with the ones above.
Life in the middle of nowhere lacks excitement, so I thought I'd let you in on my excitement for the day. Yes, I went to Delta to get a spark plug and a pocket knife. No, they weren't for me. While in Delta, there was a CERT (Certified Emergency Response Team) mock disaster going on, so there were fake injured people around town. We rode around trying to find my mom so that we could take a picture of her in her bright green vest. Maybe you can inherit it when mom dies, Da. Even though we're not supposed to give her stuff away and she's not going to die. Anyway, we were unsuccessful, so our exciting trip ended on a low note. I then came home, had some lunch and took a nap. Monday, I'm going with Mom and Dad to take Roo back and to drop off some microfiche to be scanned for work. Maybe I'll test-drive a Prius and maybe I won't. You'll just have to wait and see. No, I still have no car. Well, I hope your day was more exciting than mine.
So, last weekend I decided to do a puzzle. May of you may not find this unusual; however, as a general rule, I prefer to watch other people do puzzles. Watching people lets you see the work progress without experiencing the frustration firsthand. I've been know to do the occasional 100-200 piece kids puzzles, and I even did a 300 piece puzzle over Christmas with my sister Da's help. Why did I decide to do a puzzle, you ask. Because it was a sphere. What could be more exciting than a spherical puzzle? So, I took it out of the box and began to do it. This particular puzzle has numbers on the back of it, but I was going to try it without the numbers, as that would have been cheating. I connected several of the the fish and then I became frustrated. After an hour of frustration, I began to use the numbers, so that I would actually finish the puzzle. It took quite awhile to even figure out how to use the numbers and even with the numbers, the puzzle was hard enough, as pieces seemed to fit in places where they did not go. I actually finished this puzzle and have posted the pictures with this blog. Not only did I finish the puzzle, I had an enjoyable time working on this puzzle and bought two more to entertain me for another few weekends. I'm off to work on another one
For those of you who liked the movie Enchanted, you may want to stop reading now.
Earlier today, Roo suggested that I stop at the RedBox for a movie and I was happy to oblige as things are often slow here in the middle of nowhere. There were several movies that I'd heard were good, including Enchanted. So the family sat down to watch it and I was annoyed from minute one. I wanted to take out my sling shot and shoot Giselle between the eyes. They took the most annoying part of Snow White--the voice and continued on with it in this movie. You can't call me unromantic because this movie was stupid, and thus does not qualify as a romance. Don't think I'm misled that chick flicks are stellar movies that should be seen by all. A good chick flick gets a solid two stars. This movie got a negative.7529. Next gripe, there was someone in the movie that could actually sing, but did we hear her sing. No Siree, Bob. That would have been much too pleasant. Let Idina Menzel sing for goodness sakes. Not only does she have a Tony for being Elpheba in Wicked, but she's married to Taye Diggs (which I realize has nothing to do with her singing ability, but let's face it--he's hot!)
If there are any of you perky, cheery, optimistic, and annoyingly everything girls out there reading my blog, I wouldn't talk to me right now because I might shoot you between the eyes with a sling shot, or maybe I'd shoot me with the sling shot to put me out of the misery I'd be in by being with you, the aforementioned perky person.
First off--Happy Birthday, Mom! It was your birthday when I wrote this, but probably not when you read this. Today, my rant is on the wind. I am not a fan of the wind--a breeze, I love--the wind, I do not. What is so bad about the wind, you ask? I hold my breath in the wind; I don't know why I do this, but I do, and thus long periods of time in the wind are difficult for me as I have to force myself to breathe. Apparently, I did this as a baby, too. Old habits die hard. In fact, I haven't gone to get the mail today because it will involve walking in the wind. I haven't gone to get lunch today because I'll have to walk two steps in the wind to get to the car to go get lunch.
I forgot to post about how fun it was to have Cyn and NooKoo down last week. They were here for just a short time, but long enough for NooKoo to make great friends with one of the dogs and utter the great words "dog" and "cat". She could already say "mama" and "wow" and maybe a few other things. I must admit she is very cute, particularly when she gets excited and goes stiff and shakes. I think that FarmerBoy is her favorite aunt/uncle at this point. When she saw him she got excited and about rocked her car seat off of the table. Too bad he, Mom, and Dad were sick and couldn't hold her, but they enjoyed seeing her just the same. It was also good to get to talk to Cyn and see her again, of course. We really do like you Cyn, even if you didn't have NooKoo.
Well, I'm off to hold my breath and get the mail and my lunch.
Easter is one of the most tradition-filled holidays at my house. Every year the local grocery store has their anniversary celebration, which includes 10 cent hot dogs, as well as cotton candy and ice cream cones for 25 cents (originally they were 10 cents, but inflation hit last year). Another fun thing is the fact that the grocery store tapes papers with numbers on the floor of the store and intermittently calls numbers. If you are on the number, you win a bag of groceries, which includes potato chips and bacon, among other things.
This year was a bit different. Mom was out of town and the cousins, aunt and uncle weren't down. Also, Loo, et al. didn't get here until 5 p.m. on Saturday. Also, the rest of the family is sick with colds and are trying to limit their public exposure. As such, I was the one left with the tasks of getting the cotton candy and hot dogs, as well as the groceries needed to eat unhealthy all weekend. The cotton candy line was non-existent, so I got my 10 sticks (what is the correct term for a thing of cotton candy?) for FarmerBoy to consume almost entirely himself. I then went to do the grocery shopping and they did not call any numbers while I was in the store. I tried to dawdle and everything, but still no number calling. Finally, I went to get the hot dogs, which had a 45 minute line. I would have just gone back in the store to buy the stuff for hot dogs, but was told there were no hot dog buns in the store. Sheesh! Anyway, I finally got my hot dogs (limit 20 per person), only to remember I needed chicken for Saturday's dinner. I returned to the store for chicken and food coloring and continued home. I would like to say that this tradition is much more enjoyable with other people to stand in line with.
Saturday went fine and dandy. I boiled 4 dozen eggs, and made 17 cups of egg dye, properly labeled, so that I would know what I was getting. I also made a "Special Mystery" color which involved putting a random number of drops of all the food colors. I then set the colors out in the color of the rainbow to easily find the colors I needed. Also important--2 dozen eggs were brown ones from the chickens, and 2 dozen were white for more variety (yes, I do realize that I have OCD tendencies, but doesn't everyone?). Several of us died eggs, and pictures are posted above of the egg dyeing experience. Anyway, the coloring went well and I got supper made and potato challenge and the tradition is done for a year, and next year people better show up in time to help me stand in line for hot dogs!
My excitement of the week is the forthcoming death of my car. Apparently, it has a cracked engine block and there's nothing they can do for it. It could last 2-3 days or 2-3 months; however, my brake lights aren't working and I'm not putting $220.00 into fixing them if the car is just going to die. I've had the car for 6 years and put 65,000 miles on it. Total mileage is 120,000. So, my Chevy Lumina is the newest member of the farm fleet of cars. Once it has started the engine the last time, it will go to the Kidney foundation or some such place where it can be put to good use.
In other doings of the week, I spent hours with Mom yesterday, cleaning the house in preparation for a visit from Cyn and NooKoo. Cyn is easy to prepare for, she doesn't put everything in her mouth. NooKoo, on the other hand apparently likes to taste everything (I'll forgive her, as she is only 1). This means everything in the house--or at least the rooms she's penned in--has to be above her reach. I wonder if she is bigger than the chickens. (That comment was just for you, Cyn, as I know you don't like to be compared to cows, and thus, I thought I'd vary it for you!) The house is looking somewhat better, and will be even better once we hit D.I.
This coming week I have a conference in St. George--Yes, I get to learn even more about water. It is a nice change from the humdrum, day-to-day boredom of work. I'm making my Mom go down with me and we'll look at cars, so I'll kind of know what I'm looking for. I don't know what I want, as I didn't know that I'd be buying one. I'm looking at mid-size cars that are on the larger size, but below full-size. If you out in blogworld have any suggestions, let me know.
Rome--Installment 2
When in Rome, Farmer Boy (FB) and I went to two different catacombs, both of which had very unique and strange smells to them. A catacomb is a place where Romans buried dead people several layers deep. One of the catacombs we went to, Catacombs de San Sebastiano, had tunnels seven miles long, 3 layers down, with sub-levels within the levels. This particular catacomb housed over 30,000 bodies at one point. We only viewed one of the levels of the catacombs. This tour was very large and there were a ton of people.
The other catacomb we went to, Catacombs de Priscilla, was a very small, intimate tour. There were four of us on the tour and the only lighting was a flashlight. There were beautiful fresco paintings in these catacombs, as well as large rooms that we were able to see. In this catacomb, some of the sarcophogi (plural of sarcophogus) were kept sealed. It was really very interesting to see these places and how so many people were fit in such a small place. When we were in this catacomb, I thought what a great place it would be to play hide-and-seek. And then I thought, "that would probably be kind of creepy". I also thought that it would be a great place to hide and jump out and scare people.
On to the next burial places--mausoleums, burial places for the richer. The mausoleums had very decorated sarcophogi and were much fancier than the catacombs. This mausoleum was under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican city. These were built with bricks, unlike the catacombs which were dug out of dirt that hardened into rock when it was oxygenated. While there, we also got to see the bones of St. Peter, though I have my doubts whether they were his bones or not.
The next place we saw on our tour of the dead, I found gross and disturbing though FB found it fascinating. It was the Capuchin Crypt. It was several rooms that were decorated to look like a cathedral with human bones. There were thousands of peoples bones in there. There were specific rooms--like the femur room and the scapula room. They made chandeliers and sconces out of bones, as well as wall decorations. You can read more about it here and see pictures. I didn't take pictures because they told me not to, and who wants a picture like that to blow up and put on their wall. I keep thinking that I'm going to have dreams about the bones coming to life and reassembling themselves, so they can chase me. Yes, it did creep me out just a bit.
So there you have it, my tour of the dead or at least where the dead used to be. Sweet
dreams!
Well, I'm back from Rome and am now well-rested and clean, so I can now post to my blog. While in Rome, one of my favorite games to play was, "Italian, Other European, or American". This was easily played in Rome as it was full of locals and tourists. The following items were helpful in playing this game.
1. Shoes. Europeans wear much better shoes than Americans--they wear stylish leather shoes. Also, if they were wearing athletic shoes, they looked more like soccer shoes than basketball shoes. Boots were popular among the women--European boots had more gold on them than American boots.
2. Hair and eye color. Most of the Italians in Rome had jet black hair and brown eyes. If there was a person with good shoes and hair color other than naturally black, it was a safe bet that they were other European, or even other Italian (as opposed to Roman).
3. Facial expression. I found that most Romans and Europeans did not smile very often. Sheesh. Did you just come from a funeral--was work that bad for all of you--I mean you get 2 hours off for lunch, how bad can it be?
4. Clothes--Apparently color is not popular in Italy. I had FarmerBoy take "Where's Megan" pictures at the Vatican and Colosseum. They would have been much harder if I weren't the only one in a blue coat. Black and white are very popular colors in Europe. Come on people, let's show a little life. Obviously they must wear colors sometime as they sold colored clothes in the stores.
5. Jewelry--Europeans wear a lot more jewelry than your average American--even to work. I realize that dressing up for work for me means not wearing a sweatshirt, but I can't imagine wearing that much jewelry to work everyday. It would just distract me.
There you have some of my observations of the difference between chic Italians and Europeans and slobby Americans. If any of my readers out there have noticed any other differences, please feel free to let me know.
I spent many hours shopping with Loo, Roo, and Mom on Saturday. Roo found many great things on sale, of course. I found many things on sale, but I didn't care for them, so instead I bought the expensive things that I like. I am going to Rome in two days and have decided that I can't look like a slob in a European city (in the Delta sense of the word). Perhaps you will get to see some of my new clothes if I post pictures from my trip. Anyway, it was lots of fun and we stopped for See's chocolates in the end. Happiness. I would marry the bordeaux if it was a man.
Also this week, I got a fabulous mp3 player. As my friend Strongpants can attest to I have been trying for a couple of months to decide whether or not to buy one and which one to buy if I did buy one. Well, I finally decided last Monday night to order a refurbished one online. It was a great deal; however, I, of course, wanted to have it before my trip and needed time to load songs on it. Lucky for me it came on Thursday. Hooray for fast service! Anyway, I went to load some music onto it, but I cannot find my CD case. Ugh. I have looked many places and cleaned many parts of the house looking. What is a girl to do? Find all of the random ones in other CD cases containing only a few, pull the ones out of my car, bring the ones home from work, and "borrow" a few from the family. I also put on some Italian Language CDs, so that I can talk to myself on the airplane and the other passengers will look at me funny and my brother will refuse to sit in the same section of the plane with me.
No, I am not packed yet, but I have done some packing. It's hard to pack clothes when they are still wet. I've tried to think of sneaky places to hide my money, so that the pickpockets have to work hard to find it, but don't worry, I'll be ready by tomorrow night. Until I write again--Ciao!
I've been tagged by Strongpants, so I'll be happy to respond, as the rest of my life is quite boring and I can't thing of anything to post on the blog at this moment.
5 Things on my to-do list today (let's make that tomorrow, as it is after 10 p.m.)
1. Shower
2. Wash my Hair
3. Get dressed
4. Go to Work
5. Eat food
5 snacks I enjoy
1. Peanut M&Ms
2. Pistachios
3. Cinnamon Toast
4. Eclairs
5. Chocolate milk & potato chips
5 places I have lived
1. Lynndyl, UT
2. Rexburg, ID
3. Lynndyl, UT
4. Provo, UT
5. Lynndyl, UT
I'd give you some others, but there are no others.
5 jobs I have had
1. Water Secretary
2. Paralegal
3. Intern at the Board of Pardons & Parole
4. Secretary to religion teachers at Ricks
5. Data entry person
I'd give you different ones of these, but these are the only five that I've had.
5 things people don't know about me
1. I used to wash silverware in the following order: 7 spoons, 7 forks, 7 knives & repeat until finished.
2. I never set my alarm clock to a number ending in "0" e.g. 8:00, 8:20, 8:50
3. If I've been somewhere once, I can usually find it again fairly easily
4. I lost a thumbnail as a result of T-ball practice when I was a child
5. I hold my breath in the wind.
So there you have it, a few mundane things about my life. I survived work today, as well as all of the annual meetings at the Water Office. Huzzah! I now tag the following people/blogs:
onemilenorth, barelycoherent, prarierosen. You're it. Please answer these questions sometime in the next two years
Yes. There was indeed excitement in my life today. So exciting, in fact, that I told my family about it before I came home. So exciting that my Mom, who was listening to my Dad and brother's conversation on the phone with me thought I got a raise. What is as exciting as a raise, you ask? The answer: A new toilet at work. The toilet has been leaking for a couple of months now and I haven't gotten around to calling someone to fix it. I called the plumber, who at first thought it was a gasket that was the problem, but upon further inspection, he found...
...a crack in the tank! I know what excitement in my life. Even more exciting--he left the old toilet as he couldn't fit it on his truck. So, now I have two toilets at work. I hope someone doesn't use the one that isn't hooked up. I better make a sign for it. You would think it would be obvious with it being out in the hall, but you never know. Tomorrow's excitement will consist of trying out the new toilet out and taking off the sticker. Apparently toilets have a sticker that is the equivalent to the mattress "do not remove unless you are the owner tag". Who knew? I didn't. The things I am learning at my job.
The other excitement--I know your brain can hardly handle even more excitement--the plumber also insulated my furnace pipe, so that it hopefully won't freeze and then I won't have to remember to empty the "drain" bucket every couple of days.
Yeah for me! Well, I wish you all many happy flushes.
For many years of my life I was not a fan of pink. As a matter of fact, I was anti-pink. I just did not own pink items. Clothes, cute little doo-dads, crayons. To understand this you must understand my grandma. Grandma loooooooooooooooooved pink. The following items in her house were pink: Walls, floors, refrigerator, oven, sink, bathtub, and toilet. My dad's baby announcements--yup, pink. I now live in my grandma's house, which is not quite as pink as it once was. The floors and some walls have changed, but the bathroom remains the same. My mom once told me that I couldn't change the wallpaper in the bathroom as the plaster walls would come down with the paper. As if I could commit such heresy. You would think that I would want to change the bathroom, but I don't for one reason and one reason only, and it has nothing to do with the fact that a bucket is sometimes needed to flush the toilet. It is the wallpaper. The wallpaper is pink with goldish-silver ballerinas and swans. Everytime I go into the bathroom, it makes me happy to see the wallpaper.
I have overcome this anti-pink stage in my life and you will now find a respectable amount of pink in my wardrobe. I post the photos above so that you, too, may have a happy day and dream of golden ballerinas dancing on a pink stage.
So, my Mom kept telling me that I should go to a singles activity down here. I have lived here a year, so I decided that I should make it out to see if my suspicions were true that it was 18-year-olds and octegenarians. (sp?) Following a crappy day at work, I stuck to my decision to go to a singles activity that was announced as a Young Single Adult activity in my ward. I did make my little sister Roo go along with me for moral support, which may have been my downfall in the end. We arrived at the church and peeked in the door, seeing only old people. I decided to walk around a bit and investigate further, as I did not want to be the only one not collecting Social Security. This was me stalling. We came back and peeked in the door again. Still, I saw only old people. Roo and I stood in the parking lot deciding what to do. Roo kept saying that we might as well go in and look. I gave in. Bad decision. It was indeed all old people, but we were in too deep. They had seen us and knew that we were there. Yes, it was a typical singles activity in town. I think the person that was next youngest besides my sister and I was a member of the stake presidency and his wife who were in their fifties. I think young meant 65 or 70! (Coo, I bet this is bringing back memories of firesides at the Sands apartments for retired people.) Yes, that's right, I gave it a try, and I'm never going back, though I did laugh most of the way home. I hope you enjoy the picture above that I took at the activity (I took it with the permission of the stake presidency member, so it was o.k., though I did take it while the people weren't looking and with no flash. Yes, I was chicken. Roo and I snuck out after dinner and decided to skip the program for some odd reason.
I've had several people comment on the infrequency of my blog posts. I know. I'm a big slacker. First off, I'd like to offer my condolences to Strongpants, previously known as Pansy, on the loss of the Green Bay Packers. A moment of silence please.
Lately, my life has consisted of work, work and work. I did go up to Provo this last weekend and had a lovely time shopping with Strongpants. I bought me some new shoes, and my favorite purchase was a package of 12 lists, each having a month written on the bottom. Lists make me very happy, even though I lose them all the time.
Today my rant is on "State of the __________" addresses that happen this time of the year. Do all four of the major networks really need to carry these? Frankly, most of these speeches consist of a lot of clapping interspersed with a few phrases from the President, mayor or governor. Some of us would rather just read it on line the next day. I think if all of the clapping was omitted from the speeches, they would last approximately 7 minutes and 32 seconds. Fine. Cut into my programming for 8 minutes. I might forgive you for this, but no you go on forever. First we have the analysis of what the speaker might say, followed by the elongated speech, which is followed by commentary on what the speaker did say and why it is good and bad, as well as the virtues of all the major political parties. You cut into my T.V. time for two hours! I want to watch something else on T.V. Come on, give me some options. I realize that normal T.V. is slim pickin's right now, but it is better than having the same thing on every channel
