Tidbit

I had a massage last night.  I have a great massage therapist.  I tell him what hurts; he feels it out and works it out.  Last night's massage was long overdue, and I would not call it relaxing.  It was what I needed, afterward I was wiped out, and today I feel better.  But I wouldn't skip straight to FUN.

Today's outfit choice was clearly a poor decision on my part.  It's so bad, in fact, that I am wishing I had some (gasp!) HOSE to fix it a little bit.  (That's bad, n'est-ce pas?)  The hair is also bad today; thanks for redeeming me today, stupid hair!

I have a three-hour meeting scheduled this morning.  Who plans a three hour meeting?

No one had signs out or had put anything on ksl.com to claim Jack and Jill.  The boys took them to the West Jordan animal shelter.  They will only keep them for a week.  One week!  Please pray that their owners find them!!!

TGIF, friends.  TGIF.

My Life Is Going to the Dogs

When I got home from work yesterday, Bella was outside the sliding door, whining like crazy.  Since I could hear people in the house I called out, "Is Bella in trouble or something?"  Landon called back, "We have some dogs here, and she was going nuts!"

She WAS going nuts? 

Wait!  Did you say, "We have some DOGS here"?

Landon and two of his friends were out walking when a HUGE rain/hailstorm hit.  They were drenched within moments.  As they hurried toward our house they spotted two little, drenched little, shivering little, lost little dogs.  What could they do but bring them home?

Poor Bella.  She just wanted to play!  Only she was like 50 times their size because they were these tiny little terriers.  And she cried and cried and cried.  Until we pulled out the CAN of shame (I do not like the can of shame...).  The can of shame is a soup can filled with steelies that makes a lot of noise, scares the dog, and is equated with, "You're in big trouble, Doofus!"  All we have to do is pull it out of the cupboard and she quiets down.

The dogs were a boy (who was wearing a collar but no tag) and a girl (who didn't have a collar).  The boy sprawled out to sleep on his back, so we called him Jack (see "The Lake House").  The girl naturally became Jill, although we considered Rose ("Rose!"  "Jack!"  "Rose!" "Jack!")  Landon and his friend took Jack & Jill out to look for their home, but no one claimed them.  So they came home and spent the night with us.  They slept in the boys' room in Bella's kennel.  Bella slept on her bed in our room.

Hopefully someone will be looking for their dogs today before our boys take the trek to the pound.  And either way, hopefully someone will find their dogs, because the boys plan to tell the pound to call us if Jack & Jill do not get claimed.

Woof.  (That is dog language for "The End.")

OK, they were sweet little dogs.  But seriously?  THREE dogs?  I don't think so!

I'm So Glad I'm Not Single

With my apologies to my many friends who ARE single...

I was thinking a couple of nights ago about how cool it is to trust my sweetheart so completely that I can just say something and he will take care of it.  Then I did a little test.  Would he read my mind?  If not, would he be mad or frustrated with me?

You know, honey, a few weeks ago Ashtyn and I had the best slushie EVER from a little store in Midway.

Oh, yeah?

I've probably had more slushies this summer than the rest of my life combined.  They're SO good.

Yup, sometimes they really hit the spot.



Spencer, when we get to Kimball Junction, will you please pull off?

Why?

I want a slushie.



Such complete trust.  Such total love.  I am a lucky woman!

Wondering About the Future

Spencer and I have said for years that after Ashtyn graduates from high school we are going to move to a smaller home--maybe even a condo.  The time period is just right because Landon would just be finishing middle school, so a move does not displace him from his high school niche.

Suddenly we realize that Ashtyn graduates in something like 10 months, and yup, you guessed it, the house hunt has begun.

Nobody panic.  It's not like we are planning to just disappear in 30 days or less.  Dang!  Our house hunt from Magna to West Jordan took something like six years!

There are many, many things to consider as we look around.  In addition to trying to find a home we love, for the right price, in the right location (as if THAT was not enough!), we are also trying to picture what 10 years (or 20 or 30 or 40) will mean for us in that house, price, and location. 

For example, neither of us likes yard work, so something with a small-to-nothing yard sounds fabulous (this is where the condo comes in).  But I also hope to be surrounded by hundreds of grandchildren (OK, that's not realistic, but I can dream, can't I?) someday.  I want them (and their parents) to have a place to hang out and maybe bring their friends over and watch movies and play in the yard (or pool or whatever) and maybe have barbecues and definitely have sleepovers and, and, and... 

In the meantime, we still have three children at home for the time being, so we need a place for them to hang with their friends and park their cars and, and, and...

Today I watched our neighbor's granddaughter sit during Sacrament Meeting and examine our neighbor's hands:  the veins, the lines, the spots, the knots--she checked it all out very carefully, often comparing her small, 9-year-old hand with her grandfather's nearly-70-year-old hand.  It was sweet and adorable.  And it made me think that 10 years ago--when we moved here--his hand was not even 60 years old.  And suddenly he's facing 70 squarely in the face.

Which is not really that important, except that as we choose a home I want it to be a fit for the time while we're in our 40's and have teens at home; and the time in our 50's when our grandchildren (stay with me here) are toddlers and young children and their parents are struggling with money and everything else that comes during that young adult time of life; and the time in our 60's when our grandchildren are growing and becoming and exploring and EATING and we decide to serve a mission; and the time in our 70's when maybe things start to quiet down and it's just the two of us and Spencer doesn't run marathons every few months; and so on (with any luck).

Maybe my view of the future is not what will happen at all.  Maybe our children will not live close by us.  Maybe one of us will be ill or will die.  Maybe we'll be housing all of our children and their children for years on end.  Even these possibilities lend themselves to my point, however.  I want to find the perfect place for whatever contingency may come.

Maybe we'll find that place.  Maybe we already have.

I just don't know.

In a Dark Mood Today

My boss gave me two large bags of M&M's for my birthday.  The first bag contains my favorite candy in the entire world:

 The second bag looks like this:

I do like dark chocolate.  But if I'm choose M's, I almost always go for my favorites.  Why mess with a good thing, right?

Except today I thought dark chocolate sounded good.  And guess what?  I was right! 

I also had a fabulous idea!  I like semi-sweet (not milk) chocolate chips in my cookies.  I bet these little babies would make excellent M&M cookies!  Mmmmm...

Journey to the Awesome 80's

One of Spencer's colleagues was deciding whether or not to come in to work on Friday because she was going to be up late at the Night Ranger/Foreigner/Journey concert.  Spencer gasped and said, "Lucky!" 

Later she called him, said she had two extra tickets, and asked if he wanted them.  He jumped all over that.

This is where I admit that I'm a dweeb and an old woman, and it did not sound terribly fun to me to go to a super-loud concert with a bunch of 80's stoners.  But Spencer was so excited, so I agreed to go.  I also grabbed a pair of ear plugs.

Our seats were on the east side of the stadium.  We saw the very last of Night Ranger, and danged if it wasn't all kinds of fun.  Foreigner was really, really good (even though there are only a few of their songs that I like).  Journey was sans Steve Perry (bummer!) but their lead singer sounded like Steve.  I couldn't watch him, though--he was obnoxious, though very energetic.  He probably also makes really good zucchini bread.

Journey's lead guitarist, Neal Schon, is simply phenomenal!  Wow.

Yes, I wore the earplugs.  Yes, I danced and sang.  Yes, we were surrounded by 80's rockers and stoners.

It was so dang much fun!

In true "old person" fashion, we left early.  We still had to get up and go to work this morning...  :)

Birthday Blessings

I had 45 messages on my Facebook wall yesterday.  They came from friends all over the country.  Some were high school friends, some were current friends, and a lot of in-between.  What a blessing!

I could only think of a couple of things I wanted for my birthday.  I'm just so blessed that I have everything I want.  I ended up with approximately 100 pounds of M&M's (stashed in multiple places), some money, some cards, and lots of loves.  My "parties" ranged from in the inter-office mail to in the lunchroom to in the living room.

We bought pizza and ate in the living room while we watched "Tangled."  So dang much fun!

At 9:30 p.m., the front door opened, and I heard, "Hi, Mama!"  Taylor decided that his gift to me would be to go to Far-Away Logan and pick up Briana for the night.  He took her home again this morning.  Best. surprise. ever.

Happy birthday to me!

What Kind of Slut Are You?

A friend's DIL told her she was a jewelry slut.  It started a conversation about what kind of sluts we are. 

It also prompted me to tell Landon to NEVER tell Grandma Ruth that she was ANY kind of slut!  (She just wouldn't appreciate it.)

My mom is a self-proclaimed office supply slut.  Well, Mama, look at the adorable things I got from a friend today (Thanks, Amber!)

This is the kind of slut I am:

Today in History

In 1822, Gregor Mendel was born on this date.  Mendel is known as the father of genetics, and it all started with some pea plants.

1822 meets 2011

42 years ago today the world watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.

My parents were watching me dig into my first birthday cake, with the TV on in the background.

Happy birthday Ashley Reber, Logan Gifford, and Bee Jorgensen!  I think of you every year.

My Only Link to Reality

Please, please tell me you have seen and love "Return to Me."  Because if you don't, we might not be able to be friends.

And if you have seen it, and you do love it, you will love the gift our daughter made for my birthday:

Grace, I got it.  I got it, Grace.

Today's Tidbits

If I were super-entertaining I would have something profound to tell you about Harry Potter 7--part 2, to which I have been looking forward for MONTHS.  Yes, we saw the midnight showing.  Yes, I LOVED it and found it incredibly satisfying.  Also, Alan Rickman is GENIUS!!!

3:00 a.m. bedtime is not so satisfying.

I was the first one on a very stinky elevator as I went down to get some lunch.  As each person got on I wanted to scream, "It smelled this way when I got on!"

If you get the chance to go to the COB cafeteria for lunch sometime, let me recommend the ginger snaps.  I love them.  And if you don't get one for yourself, I hope you will at least think of me.

Taylor received his Eagle Scout award at a Court of Honor last night.  Many, many thanks to the Giffords and the Spencer 5th ward for hosting something so wonderful.  I love you, Sami! Just sayin'...


My awesome brother, Derek, presented Taylor and Logan's Eagle awards to them, and that made me remember that I completely spaced HIS Court of Honor over 20 years ago.  Luckily for me, I have gotten to see firsthand the marvelous man that he has become.  It is an honor to be his sister.

And it is an honor to be Taylor's mother.  He is a fine, fine man, as is his friend, Logan, who I have loved since he was about 4 years old.  Congratulations to both of you!

New bifocals arrived yesterday.  I feel like a dork, swiveling my  head all around to try to find the best place through which to focus.  I tried the no-line bifocals for a day and ended up with a screaming headache, so I went to the lined lenses.  Something about the lines equates with "old" in my head.  Eh, well.  So be it.

Flex spending is a God-send.

Hoping for a Well-Rounded Life

Yesterday I was given tickets to the AAA-league All-Star baseball game, being played this year at Spring Mobile Park in SLC.  Ashtyn and Spencer and I went to the game.
We arrived at the bottom of the third inning.  I wanted to be there at the beginning for the national anthem and "Play Ball!"  Didn't happen.  Oh, well.

Here is a list of the things I had to explain to Ash about baseball:

An inning is 6 outs:  Each team gets their "ups" (three outs).
"Ups" means its your team's turn.
If the home team is winning after the top of the 8th inning, they don't take their ups, and the game is over.
The visiting team always gets first ups.
It doesn't count as a hit unless you get to base.
A foul ball counts as a strike, unless it's on the 3rd strike.
The strike zone is in a certain area.  If the ball goes through the strike zone, it's a strike, even if the batter doesn't swing.
If the pitcher hits the batter with a pitch, the batter gets to take the base.  If he can walk.
If the pitcher leaves the game, he doesn't come back.
It's not called a baseball SQUARE, it's a baseball DIAMOND.
The home team is in white; the visitors are in gray or dark uniforms.
Those guys whose pants are up to their knees are wearing their uniform in the traditional way (or--as Grandpa would say--CORRECTLY).

Clearly, we haven't exposed our family to enough baseball.  Just as clearly, we are not ready for the nuances of the game.

But we know how to have a good time together!

Have You Noticed?

Good songs don't get stuck in your head. Bad ones last for days.


A new pair of fabulous shoes makes you feel strong, confident, and beautiful.  I think women like shoes because of this. 

Women do not try on shoes and ask, "Do these make me look fat?"  That's the other reason women like shoes.

If you roll your eyes too much, you will get a massive headache.  Not that I would know...

There are some people whose voices raise several decibels as soon as they are on the phone. 

When you leave a message on voicemail at someone's home, you automatically address your comments to whoever recorded the message. 

Good pens disappear in a moment.  Bad pens are around forever.

The worse you look when you go to the store, the more likely you are to run into people you know.

On Getting Older

It is a strange phenomenon, this aging thing. 

I would still LOVE to ride every stinking ride at Lagoon, but if I push the limits, I will be sick.  Guaranteed.  So I go to my limit, but no farther.

I still want to spend time with my family gathered around me.  But they live in far-off Logan and they work full-time jobs and they have friends they want to spend time with.

I want to be able to see clearly.  Oh, wait.  I couldn't do that when I was a little girl.  So, I'd love to be able to see with SINGLE-vision lenses.  But, no--I've crossed over into bifocals.  Just waiting for them to arrive...

A List of Love from the Weekend

In no particular order:

1.  Running with the girls.
2.  An excuse to play in the mud (I don't think I have EVER played in the mud before).
3.  Lindsey asked to meet the extended family.  (She doesn't know what she's asking, but it still made me happy.)
4.  Colton walks in and calls us Mom and Dad.
5.  Landon trying to teach me to Jerk (and something else).
6.  Colton thinks I'm cool because I tried to Jerk (and something else).
7.  Singing in the car.
8.  Cotton candy!
9.  M&M's!
10.  Pineapple!
11.  Slushies!
12.  Awesome fireworks show on the ground and in the sky--all from my front yard.
13.  Great discussion with Briana.
14.  Great discussion with Briana and Taylor.
15.  Landon told his cousins (in my hearing) that his favorite place to be is home.
16.  New clothes for work.
17.  Black shoes that don't squeak (finally!).
18.  TWO PAIRS of black shoes.  Bliss!
19.  Smallest "crowd" I've ever seen at Lagoon.
20.  Only 85 degrees during the outdoor picnic--glorious!
21.  Silver Lake.
22.  The whole family at Silver Lake.
23.  I love our beautiful state!
24.  I love our beautiful family!
25.  I love having grown-up children!
26.  Holding hands with my sweetheart.
27.  Listening to Spencer laugh on roller coasters.  (Best. Laugh. Ever.)

There is a gentleman at work.  He is truly a gentleman.  He is kind.  He is good.  He is also intelligent.  He is happy.  He is very knowledgable.  He is helpful.  I really, really like him.  He tries to talk so fast that he almost stammers.  I don't know--maybe it is the leftovers of a stutter or stammer.  It doesn't slow him down, but he tends to repeat certain words at the beginning of a sentence or paragraph.

Last week my boss gave a presentation.  He used the phrase, "...if you will" at least a half a dozen times. 

Our team leader for the Kiss Me Dirty run used to send us a weekly email.  The first time, the salutation said, "Dear Dirty Damsels in Distress."  The next one said, "Dear Darling Dirty Damsels in Distress."  Every week she added another adjective to the salutation, all beginning with the letter D.  It was impressive, really.  I asked where she came up with all of those adjectives, and she said she Googled it.  She was getting pretty desperate by the end.  :)

I wonder if I'm the only one who notices these things.   And if so, does that make me pathetic, shallow, or wickedly observant?

Awesome Weekend. Awesome Family.

Every once in a while I have moments when things just couldn't get better.  This weekend has been a long series of those moments.

After my run and a (wonderful) shower I took a snooze with my sweetheart next to me.  When we awoke, I was starving, so we gathered Briana, Ashtyn, Landon, Logan, and Bestest Friend Brittany, and we all went to lunch.  We visited while we ate, and we decided we were going to go to a movie. 

As we were driving home, Spencer said, "We could hit D.I. while we're waiting for our movie to begin."  We spent TWO HOURS at D.I. treasure hunting, trying on clothes (some for reals, some for kicks & (lots of) giggles).  We bought some of our treasures, which included some work clothes for me, a swimsuit and church clothes for Sassy, some casual clothes for Breezy, some jammies for Landon, and some toys for Spencer.  We had all the D.I. employees howling with laughter at us--they were very good sports about our being in their store!

When we got home, the boys decided to go the West Jordan City Carnival and watch the movie in the park with friends.  So Spencer and I and the girls saw Larry Crowne (which was darling).  Afterward Breezy went to Lisa's and Sassy and Colton joined the rest of "the group" at the movie in the park, where Ash received her first kiss.  Awww!

Today Bri and Tay attending the YSA ward.  While she was there, Briana received the answer to a question she'd been praying about for some time.  She has decided that she wants to serve a mission.  She will talk to the bishop in her ward next week (the current bishop is being released next Sunday, so she'll wait for the new bishop). 

When she told her dad and me, Spencer folded her in his arms and would not let go.  He said, "I'm proud of you for choosing to serve a mission.  I'm even more proud of you for listening to the Spirit."  It was one of the sweetest moments I have experienced in my entire life.  My heart took a picture.

We had sweet conversation with Bri and Tay, which is the best part (so far) of having adult children.  Sometimes it is difficult to allow our children to make their choices or to not have my feelings hurt when they choose to be with their friends instead of us.  :)  But they have marvelous friends, they are friends with each other, and they are grown people who can choose for themselves.  What more could a parent want for or from her children?

After dinner (as an entire family!) we drove with the WJ Fishes up to Silver Lake and went for a hike.  My goodness!  What a beautiful day it was up Big Cottonwood Canyon!  It took us a while to get home because of a terrible accident in the canyon, but as we came into view of the valley, my heart was filled.  This is my home, and I am surrounded by people who I adore.  We live in a land of liberty and plenty and opportunity and beauty!

More fun tomorrow, but if this was the end of the weekend, it would be enough to last a lifetime, I think.

P.S.  We got to sing The Star-Spangled Banner TWICE!  You ought to hear our Primary children belt out the national anthem.  IN. CRED. I. BLE.

Dirty Girl Fun

This morning was the Kiss Me Dirty run benefitting gynecological research at Huntsman Cancer Institute.  This was the most fun I've had in a race yet.  Remember that we ALWAYS use the terms "run" and "race" VERY loosely.  This really wasn't a race.  It's was just a lot of fun with 8 other women from our ward!

Looking cute before the race!
Lo, Jen, MaryKay, Val, Stacy, Greta, Aundrea, Lara, Kayla

The "race" begins

Things are gettin' dirty!

Crossing the finish line

Team Dirty Damsels in Distress with swag

Kiss Me Dirty!

This women-only event will be duplicated in Ogden next month.  This was a TON of fun!

The "For Sures" and the "Maybes" for the Holiday Weekend

Today we will FOR SURE go to the Utah Army band performance at Brigham Young Park in SLC, where I hope we will FOR SURE cheer for and celebrate our liberty as citizens of the United States of America as well as those who have worked to protect those liberties.

Tomorrow I will FOR SURE be running in the Kiss Me Dirty obstacle course/run with 8 other ladies from our ward.  I MIGHT have pictures to share afterward.  It's gonna be muddy fun FOR SURE!

Tomorrow we MIGHT go for a hike or a picnic or something fun.  FOR SURE we will get the housework done.  Because it's a sty. (10 points if you can name the movie)  And then we MIGHT go to the movie in the park (Megamind), just because it's silly and fun and a good reason to eat popcorn from a paper bag FOR SURE.

On Sunday we will FOR SURE go to church, where we MIGHT get to stand and sing The Star Spangled Banner (because I LOVE the third verse the best).

On Monday we MIGHT go to the West Jordan City Western Stampede parade.  And we MIGHT stay at the park for the carnival and cotton candy (please?).  And we FOR SURE will go to Mom & Dad Hill's for a barbecue.  And then we MIGHT go back to the City Park to watch fireworks.

We are FOR SURE going to have a fun weekend!