The Nerdiness of My Family

Note: In my family "Nerd" is considered a term of endearment.

So, for awhile I've been thinking about my family and crossword puzzles and word puzzles in general. We seem to have an addiction to them. We play word games online like Letter Linker and Text Twist. Of course, we do much better when there is a person or two helping over your shoulder. Letter Linker is great preparation for playing Boggle. At a ward board game activity a few years ago, some of us played Boggle. We only lasted one round because I beat everyone by so far they didn't want to play with me any more. They had no idea that this came from playing word games online.

A couple of months ago, I was looking around the house for a new crossword puzzle book that I had purchased and I asked several people if they had seen the book. They would reply with something like, "No, but don't take the one that is in __________ location." They were quite adament. You would think I was going to steal their money, not their crosswords. I personally prefer Cryptoquizzes, Bowl-a-scores and easy to medium crosswords. My family is fairly varied in the puzzles they like to do, so usually we get a good chunk of the variety puzzles completed. It is important, when on vacation, that each person has their OWN puzzle book. You wouldn't want to share. It is o.k. to swap, but it is important that every person can do puzzles at the same time, if they want to. If there is only one book, Ma will say, "Just tear out such-and-such page for me." Of course, the most popular place to keep puzzle books is in The Loo. (Not to be confused with the person, Loo). FarmerBoy has recently solved the issue of books with no pens, by buying a sticky holder to keep the pen is. We may have to fingerprint if the pen goes missing.

Also, if there is a puzzle started, but not finished, it is perfectly acceptable to complete said puzzle, even if you didn't start it. Puzzle books on the table are especially susceptible if left open to a partially-completed puzzle.

I often say that for my tombstone, I will have a crossword puzzle. To learn who I am and important dates in my life, you will have to solve the crossword puzzle. No, the answers will not be on the back!

So, do any of you have any favorite word games that you like to play?

New nicknames

Happy Birthday Eliza B!!!

So, after a bit of complaining from the peanut gallery, I suppose that I can change Squidgy's nickname to JooCoo (I contemplated CooJoo, but that sounds too much like Cojo) and his mother's name to YooCoo. However, JooCoo will still be Squidgy to me in my head. Just a not to YooCoo, I came up with the name while visiting you and even told you a few times, but my guess is you were too tired to notice:) If any of you would like to see pictures up to the Northwest, please visit my cousin's blog here. We did take a few photos, but I'm too lazy to put them up right now.

I spent the week recovering from my vacation. I have also sworn off sugar again. So far, I've gone four days without sugar. Yeah, me! Today, Ma and I went to the quilt show. I was impressed. They had 125 quilts displayed, much more difficult than the one I just finished. I'd show you a picture, but I forgot to take a picture before I sent it up to NooKoo. (Yes, I know that I change the spelling every time.) So, if Coo or Yoocoo, would take a picture and send it to me, I would much appreciate it.

Home again, home again

Well, I made it back from Portland safe and sound. Ma and I had a lovely time up there. We visited Coo, Cynth, NuKoo and Squidgy. Squidgy is the new addition to the family. He spent many hours telling me the secrets of the universe; however, I don't speak newborn, so I couldn't understand the secrets. NuKoo spent many hours on my phone, talking to various family members and imaginary people; however, the family didn't speak 2-year-old very well. NuKoo was kind enough to make sure that we were entertained the whole time. She is a very busy child and reminded us of Roo when she was little. It was very fun. We don't get to see many little children around here. I turned NuKoo into a jerky junkie. I didn't think she would like beef jerky, but I was wrong.

On our drive there, I noticed two different signs in Idaho (two to mention, anyway). One was your typical deer sign. The other was a game migration sign. Apparently, Idahoans felt the need to differentiate between deer and other wild game. I'd forgotten how cold Idaho is and how much colder the wind is. Nothing wakes you up on a long drive, like getting out in the Idaho winter without your coat on.

The New United States

I haven't blogged in quite awhile as work has been overbusy, and thus, I have not been very creative. Anyway, I was sitting around with the family tonight looking at a United States Map. We were marking the states that we had been to. Then we listed the countries that we had been to. Of course we also spent time planning trips wherein we could add more states to our list in one fell swoop. After awhile Uncle Isatalo and Pa decided that perhaps we could combine some of the northeastern states into one state. Then the group decided that perhaps they should even up all of the states based on land area. This would mean that Alaska would have 8 new states (or 12 people per Alaskan state). Texas would have four states, all retaining the name Texas in their name (East Texas, West Texas, Liberal Texas, etc.) as they would have a Civil War over who got to keep the name Texas. I also decided that we should square up all of the states in typical Monk fashion. If you did not live in a square, then you would be required to move.

And then it hit me--how many other families sit around redividing the United States, probably very few. I guess we're just unique.

What are all of your thoughts on this matter?

Yo-Ho-Ho-Ho

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!

The untagged

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 freshener
2. 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 Hoodie

P.S. You're going down Peach Blush!

As is the tradition with this, I tag No One.

Fun, fun, fun

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.