Favorite Things

One thing I love about our children is that they are not afraid to laugh out loud.  It tickles me when I'm in another room and they are watching a movie and they all belly laugh.

Yesterday Landon laughed out loud while reading a book at school, and someone told him that is weird--if you can read in your head, why can't you just laugh in your head?

Sad!

Laughter is good.  Children's laughter--even when they are big children--is good. 

Our children are good.

This Was in the Gray (Interoffice) Mail This Morning

My many friends make me very happy!  I smile.

Master's Degree, Here I Come

I have applied to and been accepted for an MBA program through Western Governor's University.  It is all online work. 

I will begin school on December 1st.  Wish me luck!

Woot, Woot!

Spencer passed his certification exam!  Wahoo!

Don't Worry

Taylor made it home.  At 1:40.  He's still among the living.

Neither of us (Spencer was up worrying, too) went back to sleep very quickly.  It was a very late night.

But at 8:00-ish we got up and gathered the family to head to Orem.  The plan was to help my grandparents do some home and yard work, mostly including doing some tree pruning.  Derek was there, along with Brant and their three oldest boys.

The girls and I got there a bit later, but we started dusting and vacuuming.  There was a large, empty box in the living room, so I was taking it out to the truck (where tree branches were also being loaded), when Spencer fell from the ladder.  He hit his head on the tree trunk, and it knocked the wind out of him.  We opted to call 9-1-1.  The emergency operator was wonderful, and the Orem paramedics were fabulous.  Spencer was coherent and thought he was fine, but we both understood that it would be better to have everything checked out.

Coming into the E.R. in an ambulance gets you first-class, fast treatment.  We were back at Grandpa and Grandma's in about an hour. 

Spencer has many scrapes, including a pretty good chunk of skin and hair missing from the back of his head.  He is sore everywhere.  But there are no broken bones, he required no stitches, and he retained his sense of humor.  The ER doc asked him where he felt the most hurt, and he said, "My patella and my rhomboids."  The doctor said, "Where do you work?"  And Spencer responded drily, "Boeing."  The ER doc and nurses and paramedics all got a kick out the fact that someone who worked building airplanes could tell them that his rhomboids and patella hurt.  They looked at me with eyebrows raised and I said, "That's nothin'.  You should hear him at home."

And that, my friends, is just how quickly life can change.  I am grateful that my sweetheart is not more seriously hurt and that our lives did not change drastically in that instant.

I Don't Usually Wait Up, but...

Taylor had to work this evening.  He told Briana that he was going somewhere after work, but she doesn't remember where.  And he will be back late.

So...where did he go?  Who is he with?  What are they doing?  What time is "late"?

And at what point do I consider killing him?  After I've received no response from the 6th text?  After I've called him more than 3 times?  After it's tomorrow?

Just wondering.

P.S. I Also Wanna Do This

Check this out!

Daring to Dream

When I first started a blog, I wanted to make people laugh.  Never mind that I'm not funny.  :)

This blog has kind of evolved into a journal of sorts. 

My english teacher in 7th and 8th grade, Mr. McCormick, used to say, "Low thinkers talk about people.  Medium thinkers talk about events.  High thinkers talk about ideas."  I don't think I'm a very high thinker, but when something crosses my mind for any length of time, I find myself wanting to write about it.

So I'm combining this blog (which includes all of you, my kind friends, who join me even though I'm not funny), my journal (which often talks about people and events), and my ideas in this post.

The book I'm proofing is called "Dare to Dream" by Whitney Johnson.  Seriously, it's awesome.  Many of you like reading things you can chew on, and this is one of those books.  Make plans now to purchase this book.  It's empowering, it's thought-provoking, it's well-written, it's inspiring.

And I am doing a homework assignment right here.  I'm going to be "inking" what I've been "thinking."  These are some of my dreams.  They will take some time to realize, and they will not happen all at once.  I will probably "go on dates" with each of these dreams in order to decide how far I want to follow them.  Life will definitely take its own twists and turns, making it necessary to re-think and re-evaluate my dreams.  I may forego some dreams for others that are more important to me as time goes by.  But writing dreams and goals down is important, so here goes:

I want a master's degree.  I don't know exactly what I want to do when I grow up, but I do know that I want to be educated.  I also want to have pursued opening the doors that need to be opened in order to get there (wherever "there" is).

I want to act.  I don't care about being famous, but I want to be onstage.

I want to write and publish a book.  I don't know what my book will be, but someday I want to be published--preferably by a major, reputable publishing company.  I don't care about making money.  I just want to do it and do it well.

"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."  --G. K. Chesterton

I think I can do just about anything badly.  I can only hope that the practicing will help me to eventually do these things well.

Therefore, I'm giving it a shot!

I'm a Sicko

This morning I took an allergy pill and took Landon to the orthodontist.  By the time his ortho appointment was finished, I was decidedly sleepy. The drive home was eternal.  I was taking Lando to his school when he remembered that he had forgotten his backpack.  The detour home took forever.  I finally got home, undressed, and climbed into bed.  For four hours.

I've fought exhaustion all day. I've also blown my nose enough to use an entire roll of tp and a half of a box of Kleenex.  I stayed awake, though, so I would be able to sleep tonight.

Easy, right?  I should be able to take another allergy pill and say good-bye to the world for 5 -- 6 hours of slumber.

Apparently it doesn't work that way.

In other news, I am proofing a book for DB, and I love it.  When it is published, you might just receive a copy from me.  It's that good.  It's non-fiction, and I think all women of all ages should read it.

The end.

Hooray for Brannah!

Yesterday Briana took her national massage therapist certification exam.  She was very, very nervous.  She had a crying meltdown on Sunday.  She asked her dad for a priesthood blessing, which he gladly did for her.

She awoke Monday morning with her hands shaking.  She fixed herself a good breakfast and had a shower.  She did some last-minute studying.

She called me in the afternoon to tell me she'd passed!  Now the school will work on procuring the license, and she will begin looking for work.

Woot!  It's so exciting!