Roof Inspection

We had our roof replaced because of hail damage. After the work is done the county inspector has to come out and approve it. In order to do this the roofing company must put a ladder out for the inspector and secure it to the house. They must also post the permit in a public place.

The inspector came by today and left us a note as to why he could not inspect our roof - there were two problems.

1. The ladder was in the wrong place. (Side note here, if they are so dang picky about where the ladder has to be and the exact position it must be in and the way it is secured would it not make much more sense for them to bring their own??? Oh wait! This is a government agency so common sense does not apply. Nevermind.)

2. The permit must be posted. It is. Right in the front window. It's so obvious you can't miss it unless you're brain dead. But then if you aren't brain dead maybe you could also bring your own ladder... Right, got it.

I ask you, should people who can't put a ladder up be walking on the roof? Highly dangerous! Seems like a bad plan.

I read the inept inspector's note and the only thing I could think was AND PEOPLE WANT THE GOVERNMENT DO HANDLE OUR HEALTHCARE??

TST Test

In one of my sociology classes we had to take a TST "test" and we're supposed to ask other people to take it as well so that we can see if there are certain links between age groups and some of their answers. Basically this is a social psychological test to determine one's "sense of self." So, I figure this is the easiest way to ask. :) It's really simple - you just answer the question "Who am I?" 20 times. Here's my list (not necessarily in any particular order):

I am:

1. a mother

2. a daughter/sister/aunt

3. a student and historian in training

4. a leader

5. LDS

6. single

7. a friend

8. happy/positive

9. reliable

10. mostly organized

11. not very patient

12. sometimes I'm too quick to judge

13. a museum docent

14. a tired mamma

15. generally shy (unless I have a responsibility that requires me not to be shy - figure that one out)

16. a giver

17. politically conservative

18. a planner

19. a laugher

20. I like to create

So, what's your list? I'll just thank you in advance (Thanks!) because I know you're all just dying to take this test! Right? ;)

Baseball, Suffrage, & Fainters

I went to help at Rock Ledge today for their annual vintage baseball game which is a big draw for the ranch. The players are dressed in early 1900s costume and there's an old time band that plays between innings so it was fun. Hot but fun.

We women gathered our signs and interrupted their game (as in, walked right into the middle of it) demanding women's suffrage, a servant girls union, and prohibition. It was fun to see audience members get into the debate along with us (or against us). We did get the boys to agree (begrudgingly) to let one of our women play on their team - on the condition that when she messes up, she's out! She was wearing a reform or bloomer dress which is a shorter skirt with bloomers that completely cover to the ankles - very daring but much more conducive to such things as baseball or climbing mountains.

On one of my tours a girl fainted and it caused quite a little disturbance in the house for awhile. We had to call the paramedics so a big ol' fire truck drove right up to the house and excited lots of attention. She was fine thankfully but the incident made me wonder why I seem to get the fainters on my tours. I had one at the other museum last month too. I guess if it keeps happening I'll become pretty well versed on what to do and what not to do but at this point I think I need to work on spotting them before they go down! Perhaps I'll require everyone to drink some water before we start or they can't come with us. Or perhaps I'll just be lucky and not have any more fainters this summer. But beware, if you're a fainter, you may want to choose another tour... or maybe wait until the winter to visit me at the museum.

Death and Math

The best part of the semester so far is telling people what my classes are on Tues/Thur - Death and Math.

Now, if you know me very well you're probably thinking I mean that I'm dying from having to take math. True. That's not an exaggeration as I think this math class just might do me in this semester... But then I think that every time I take math, right?

However, my death class is actually just that. A class on death and dying. It's a sociology class about how societies, the U.S. in particular, deal with death, dying, and bereavement. It's really very interesting but it's oh so fun to see people's reactions when I tell them what class I'm taking. One girl stopped by our classroom on the second day of class looking for the room she should be in and asked what class it was. "Death." She didn't even say anything else, just turned and walked quickly away.

The professor walked in the first day, "You're all here for death and dying?" We all just laughed.

You also get some weird looks when reading the text book in public. Some people would rather not sit by you. I wonder what people who are going to mortician school feel like? They must be the pariahs of society.

Now, I do have to say there are a couple people in the class that are a little too into this whole death thing and one girl even has the Mexican Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) skull tattooed on her arm. She's also super excited because there's a school of design that just opened in an old morgue and you can still see blood on the drains in the floor that they couldn't get out. "It's so cool to just go sit in there." Ok, seriously, that's a little over the top. Fortunately, most of the class are normal and aren't there for the gross factor.

Since death is not something we're comfortable with, and we certainly don't talk about it, it makes for some interesting looks when you take this sort of class. If you thought I was crazy before, now you know. We're going on a field trip to a mortuary and cemetery and I told the J he could go with me but he said he'll pass. Chicken. heh, heh.

Hmm, I think I might enjoy Halloween a little more than usual this year...

Well, I need to go catch up on my death reading and find a topic for my death paper. hahahaha!

(I'm having entirely too much fun with this...)

Pears

Last Saturday Mom, Becky, and I canned pears. 110 pounds of pears which came out to be I think 56 quarts of pears. What a sticky mess. It's one of those times you just need a fire hose to spray down the kitchen because you use multiple rags and mop at least twice before the sticky goes away.

And you know how pears turn brown if they sit after you've cut them? Well, as it turns out the pear juice that you get on your fingers and under your finger nails also turns brown. Especially if your skin is dry. Then it just settles right into the little crevices in your skin and browns right up. It's gorgeous dahling! Especially since it's Wednesday and I can still see it. It looks like I haven't cleaned under my nails in ages. Maybe I'll just have to cut the long ones and start over...

I asked the J if he remembered these pears - they were his favorite when he was little but he hasn't had them in a very long time! He said, "Yeah, I love those with macaroni and cheese." Yep. That was his combo. He'd eat that as often as he could get it. And he never cared much for fresh pears because he preferred the bottled ones.

Some of our pears:

We had a few pears left over so I've been on a search to find great pear recipes. On Sunday I made a Pear Croustade for dessert that was yummy.

And on Monday I made Grilled Pears & Ham for dinner.

All this yummy fresh food is a blessing of summer!

So Long Summer

Summer is coming to a close. Well, I know, I know it doesn't technically end for awhile but school starts Monday for me and that means that summer is over.

Some things I enjoyed this summer:

*Seeing a fox in our yard - many times. My favorite was when I saw him running through the front yard with a hamburger and two hot dogs in his mouth. Some poor neighbor, who was all set to BBQ, probably ran in the house for something and came out to find his food missing. I think that would be confusing and probably a little annoying. But I sure got a kick out of seeing the thief run off with his loot!

*This was a summer of creating. I had fun learning how to knit a little better, make jewelry, and sew a little (not as much as I might have). I've made a number of Christmas gifts (clearly I can't post pictures yet...) and that was fun.

*I rediscovered audio books. I always check those out when I drive to Utah and occasionally I put one on my iPod (no worries, I erase it as soon as I'm done listening!), but this summer I've listened to several of them. I had lots of drive time going to the Springs and downtown Denver every week and that's what got me started. Then I realized that I have lots of drive time anyway so I might as well listen to a book or learn something. It's been quite enjoyable and I think I will continue the tradition. Maybe I'll be able to tackle a few more on that BBC Top 100 list...

*The weather was fabulous! It was never terribly hot and there was plenty of rain. The hail and lightning storms that have been present far more often than usual were interesting to watch. And did I mention that it's been a pretty reasonable temperature all summer long? I mean there were only a few days (so far... I do realize that the weather part of summer is not over) that got into the 90s - blech!

*My staycation at home all by myself. Now before you get all antsy, you know you'd love one of those too! It's not that I don't love everyone it's just that it was sure nice to have some 100% down time.

Alas, summer is over and it's time to get back to real life. School starts Monday and usually by this time I'm excited and ready for it. Usually. But this time for some reason I'm not. I'm sure it'll be great, I'm just not there yet. I have all 16 of my required books, new folders and paper and pencils (love those!). I have freezer meals done and frozen. I almost have my desk organized - it's as close as it ever is. I've lunched with long lost friends. So, really I should be ready to go. I guess I just need to give myself a pep talk and dive in. :)

I hope your summer has been great too!

Invasion of the Flies

On Tuesday I was sitting at my computer an a fly started buzzing around me. Then 4 flies started flying around. We have windows that open without a screen on one side so I opened it and shooed 7 (seven!) flies outside. Every room I went into there was a swarm of flies! Where the heck did they come from? I went around and made sure all the windows were closed - they were. There were honest to goodness at least 7-10 flies in every room!

When I went to bed there was a mad fly (as in, insane) that was flying in circles around my room and it would fly into one mirror and bounce off then fly to the other mirror and bounce off then fly in a circle again and repeat the whole process. It finally took a rest and I was able to kill it. I thought I was safe... but as soon as I turned off the light --- there was another buzz! Oh my heck!!

Yesterday and today there are still a couple stragglers but the swarm is gone. The whole thing still boggles my mind - where did the come from, why were they here for one day, where did they go, and how'd they get in?? So bizarre!

Bumper Stickers

I just love some of the bumper stickers I've seen lately. There's only so much room on the back of a car so how does one choose? Now really I'm not the type to plaster bumper stickers on my car so I'll just have to admire them from afar... I don't know if you can read all of these or if they're too small but you might get a kick out of them.

You can find these and many more at http://www.survivingobamunism.com/

The Blood Bus

I set a goal at the beginning of this year to donate blood because it seems like a good thing to do. It's the end of July and I finally got up the nerve to do it. See, no one can ever find my veins so I've never had blood drawn, or an IV, or anything with just one stick. It's usually several and several different nurses, techs, whatever, that try it. I'm pretty much averse to any and all pain and multiple jabs does not work with that. And I mean, really, who likes needles anyway? Ooo, yes, please poke me with that big sucker! Nevertheless, I decided I'd go and donate blood and check off that dang little goal.

I got to the blood bus and filled out my paperwork and they took my temperature, and pricked my finger to check my red blood cell count, etc. Then I sat in the lovely little reclining chair and one of the phlebotomists went to work. But couldn't find a vein in my left arm. So we switched chairs and a different phlebotomist eventually found a vein in my right arm. (Perhaps my veins reside in the middle of my arms rather than close to the surface like most peoples?) She put the needle in then looked at it with a screwed up face. "Hmm, not much blood is coming. It should really be gushing by this point. Do you mind if I adjust the needle?" Oh sure, why not! (This happened when I had surgery too - the blood should have been gushing... but it wasn't. Apparently I also have less blood than others or else it knows when someone is trying to steal it and it stays far away from the predator.) The adjustment didn't work. Phlebotomist Tom came over and looked at it and asked if he could see my left arm. He found a vein in my left arm and if I don't mind they'll switch me back to the other chair and take it from that arm. That is, if I don't mind.

Naturally I said I didn't mind - I mean what else am I going to say? Heck no! I'm done with this and this is what's kept me from coming here all this time? Well, I agreed and first had to go back to the waiting area while the other persons in the left arm chairs finished up. This is clearly a very simple procedure for most people - and fast - they come in, sit down, the blood flows, they leave. Ten to fifteen minutes. But not for me. Oh no, we're going on an hour at this point. And other people were just flying through the place!

Phlebotomist Tom was able to locate a good vein in my left arm and once he got the needle in the blood flowed quickly and filled that little bag right up. (I guess my blood gave up the hiding bit.) He said that if I want to donate blood again (he was clearly unsure if I'd be willing to come in again) that I should drink double my normal intake of water for 2 days ahead of my donation and that should help. I'm not sure that would help but I'll keep it in mind. Because by next summer I might have forgotten this ordeal and be willing to try again.

Oh yeah! They also wrap your elbow with a bright bandage around the gauze. I think the bright color is so that it stands out and people ask what that's all about and you tell them you donated blood and they say, "Oh! I should donate blood too!" I wonder if it ever works? So don't worry, I had bright teal bandages on both elbows and the small white bandage on my finger where they checked my red blood count. And seriously, my finger really did gush! Good thing I only had to pick one thing up from the store with those lovelies on. I only got a few curious looks. Not having donated blood before it didn't occur to me to go to the store before I was all bandaged from being attacked.

By this time I've learned a few things.

1) When it involves needles in my arm, whether that be drawing blood or getting an IV or whatever, I'm going to have to go in and just insist that they start me off with the boss - the person with the most experience. Not because I'm a snob (which is what most of them will think and the head nurse person won't be able to dispute it because they'll find my vein right away and not see what the problem is) but because I always end up seeing that person anyway but only after several unnecessary jabs and pokes, and much more discomfort than necessary.

2) My blood doesn't want to be removed. It's quite happy where it is so whether you want to test it or take it, you'll likely have to fight for it.

3) If I should undertake this endeavor again I'll need to plan on about 1 1/2 to 2 hours - just to be safe. (This one was over 1 1/2 hours...)

Blowin' Bubbles

Mia (my niece) saw me blowing bubbles with my gum the other day and at first she was confused but very interested. Then she got excited and tried popping the bubbles and she thought it was so funny. She kept sticking out her tongue trying to figure out how I was doing it. This is a video Becky took of her reaction - it was pretty funny. :)

Isn't she so cute!?

Crazy Little Storm

Last night we had a crazy storm about 11pm or so. I could tell it was raining buckets and hailing and it was so dark out I couldn't see much when I looked out but I had no idea the extent of it until this morning... Here are a few pics of the damage outside.

It looks like snow in July:

Leaves everywhere!

And look at this poor little flower! All the leaves are torn up and the petals were knocked off. There are many plants like this and our summer squash looks polka dotted.

Crazy! And while I was listening to the rain, hail, wind and thunder last night I thought how terrifying it must be to be in a hurricane when things truly are crazy. Especially on a little island in a grass hut. It made me grateful that I have a warm, safe house that's sturdy and that I live in a pretty mild climate where this is about as bad as it gets. I wasn't worried last night, it just made me wonder and be grateful for my blessings.

Random Carrie

I was tagged to post 10 random things about myself (forever and a day ago!) - so here goes...

1. I *love* office/school supplies! White boards, pens, clips, etc., etc., etc.

2. Don't ask me directions. I have no sense of direction and I get lost going anywhere and everywhere. That whole north, east, south, west thing is ridiculous. I know where the mountains are but when I moved so did the mountains. Then what was I supposed to do? There is no such thing as an internal compass in me. At all.

3. I love to organize and plan things. I guess that fits nicely with #1 doesn't it? I'm not so good at coming up with creative, original ideas but I can help you execute it.

4. I like poison frogs. You know the little dart frogs? They're so cute! I love their bright colors and they're tiny which I always like. I don't want to hold one or get in it's way because I don't want to be poisoned you know, but I do like to admire them from afar. See, look: Cute, huh?

5. If I'm in a bad mood, Elvis can usually fix it. Usually.

6. I don't like red candy. Especially red M&Ms!

7. I'm both fascinated by and terrified of fire.

8. I don't think there will ever be enough time on this earth to learn everything I want to learn.

9. As J says, "If it's old, my mom will like it."

10. I took ballet and tap dance lessons when I was little and always had a secret desire to be a ballerina.

Simply Amazing!

So, I'm trying to do some family history work tonight (you can see that I'm working really hard on it!) and I just have to tell you that every time I open the new Family Search website I laugh. It brings the user's info up first, so obviously that's me, and right next to my name it says "Add or find husband." Who knew?? Hmm, let's try "find." Now if I had known that doing genealogy was so helpful in the here and now I might have been much more on top of it years ago!

Well That Was a Rude Awakening

Last night I put a glass of water on the nightstand by my bed because my throat was dry and I was coughing. This morning I mostly woke up (I wasn't all the way awake yet...) and went to take a drink. I did a quick glance to make sure there weren't any spiders in the glass - ok, pause here - I'm terrified of the nasty things and even if you're not, I challenge you to spend a little time in my room and not become paranoid...

Anyway, everything seemed clear so I took a small drink. And felt something on my lips! I spit everything out, sorry floor, and was now 100% awake. Then I checked the floor to see what might be crawling away and how much scrubbing I'd have to do of my lips (can't have any spider residue there of course). There was a tiny little white moth crawling across the floor. Still sick. Not as sick as a spider (by a long shot) but still unnerving. What a rude awakening.

Dog Sitting

Last week we watched Becky's dog, Dakota, while they were on vacation. She was pretty good, she's calmed down substantially in her old(er) age which is nice because she was a total spaz when she was a puppy. Anyway, I came home last Thursday and Dakota was acting really weird and jumpy and kept going to the treats. Now, she always likes a treat after you've left her, whether it's for 10 minutes or 10 hours so I gave her one but that's all. (I did learn from this that we humans are not the only creatures that like a treat when we're feeling out of sorts.)

After a few minutes she started trying to hide under the desk and I noticed that her ears were back - and then it hit me! It was stormy outside and there was lots of thunder and Dakota hates thunder - quite terrified of it. So, of course, being the good doggie aunt that I am I sat down with her and pet her. After petting her for a few minutes, hair is flying everywhere and a nice little collection starts. If you think you've ever seen a dog that sheds a lot, wait until you see these pictures...

This was after petting her for about 20 minutes (and of course there was plenty left on the carpet, my clothes, floating in the air, etc.):

I put the movie next to the collection of dog hair just to give you a size reference:

This is pretty normal. She sheds like it's going out of style! I put up with it because, well, what else am I going to do? But also because it was fairly entertaining sitting there with her. She put her head down and rubbed against me and she tried several times to climb into my lap. Dakota is NOT a lap dog, as you can see:

Then she buried her head against my leg and covered her eyes with her paws. Any time it thundered she'd look at me and whimper. Poor Dakota! I feel sorry that she was so nervous but honestly it was quite humorous and endearing.

The J's Hair

The J decided to get a haircut today and Becky offered to do the honors. (He won't let me touch his hair after a couple less than ideal experiences. Which is fine by me.) They got this far and he decided it was time to stop. What do you think?

Ok, ok, don't stress too much. They did finish the cut and he's back to short hair. BUT, we all agreed that if he grows his hair out again, he'll have the makings for a great halloween costume! Becky will give him a mullet again and he suggested adding a flannel shirt with the sleeves torn off to really complete the look. And a follow up buzz the next day of course.

Summer Poem

I was looking for quotes to put on our RS calendar today and I came across this poem:

Bed In Summer Poem

In winter I get up at night,
And dress by yellow candle light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day,

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown up people's feet
Still going past me in the street,

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

by Robert Louis Stevenson

I had to laugh because I totally remember this feeling when I was a kid. Going to bed when it was still light was so unfair! Of course, as a parent I had no problem with that rule... But I'm pretty sure the J didn't care for it... heh heh.

Blister

I wear these boots to both the museums I work for and generally they're pretty great. But last week I went home from Rock Ledge with a huge blister on my heel. Ouch! I had to wear the boots again the next day because I was filling in at Molly so I was pretty desperate for some relief.

I found these...:

...at the store and they're great! I put one on and honestly cannot even tell that I have a blister! Not kidding - there's no sign of it. Well, I can still see if of course, but I can't feel a thing. I've decided these are a great thing to keep on hand because you never know when you might need them.

So, if you ever have a blister you should try these BandAid Advanced Healing Blister pads! You'll be happy you did.

The House I'm Going to Buy

Last night while I was waiting up for the J to get home I was rifling through a pile of magazines. The idea of course being to toss the old ones but clearly it also means that I have to take one last glance in them - you know, to make sure I haven't missed anything of importance. And I had! There was a section of historic houses that are for sale, generally for low prices, and one of them was just so adorable I had to go online and look at it in greater detail. It was featured at www.oldhouses.com and I just had a lovely time meandering through that site.

Then I found my house. Well, actually I found 9 or 10 houses that I could absolutely love. And really, I didn't really have time to look at every house on the site so there could be more... BUT this one just stuck with me. It's in New Jersey. I've never considered living there but I'll consider it now.

Here's the house (built in 1731):

In this living room (disregard the laser lemon paint - not sure what's up with that) notice the fireplace. I swoon over such fireplaces. In kitchens they were even bigger, called walk-in fireplaces, and I really love that kind. The kitchen in this house has one but you can't see it well enough from the picture.

This room may possibly be my favorite:

Oh, if walls could talk! I love it!! The site says that this is very near the Delaware where Washington made his escape in 1776 and the men marched right in front of the house. I would stand out front every day and envision that march in my mind. Seriously - it just makes me happy. Now, granted, you'd have to do the research yourself and make sure it's true but I can live on the idea of it for now.

It also sits on 8.4 acres. That would be fun. I love the idea of feeling a little isolated but still being relatively close to civilization.

Sadly, I'm short $1.45 Million for the purchase price. (This is not the house my adventure started with in the magazine and it's not in the 'generally low prices' category either.)

I wonder if they just want me to live there and take care of it? It's about an hour from Philly so I could go to school there (roughly the same commute time as going downtown from here) and I'd be in my history heaven.

If you want to see the rest of the pictures of my house you can see them here. :)

It's All About the Gold, Baby!

Last weekend I went to a singles conference. Yes, I know - you're shocked. Me too. I'm trying to be supportive in my role on the singles committee... Anyway, on Friday night they did a personality test. Normally I don't put a lot of stock in those so I went in thinking I'd just have fun with it. It turned out pretty fun and pretty interesting.

After evaluating a series of statements, yada, yada, we were grouped into color groups (gold, blue, green, orange) according to our scores. I was "gold" and I now understand that I really am gold. And there are other crazy people like me! Seriously. Don't let that scare you though.

We sat in our groups and were given a poster board and told to make a poster that will explain our personalities to the group. The yellow (gold) poster board we were given was torn on the bottom two corners. My first, immediate thought was "ok, we need to either cut that edge off or make the other corners match." hahaha! Then almost everyone at the table said the same thing! hahaha! That was when I knew I belonged and everything would be alright. We started making a list - all in nice rows and columns - with words that explain us like "dependable," "organized," etc. There were some impostors in our group who drew pictures on our chart - sooo not gold - they should have been in the blue group. The blues are all about artsy creativity, lovey dovey kinds of things. Blue was actually a close second for me which is why I was ok about the pictures (although it would have been nice if they were centered a little better...) and not freaking out like some of the gold who were clearly 100% gold.

The oranges are the party/risk takers/need lots of attention people. They were arguing over who would get to get up and present their poster yet. The rest of the groups were arguing about who had to get up and present their poster. You think I'm a little crazy? You should think about those oranges you know - they really are crazy. heh heh.

Greens are the scientific type and they too makes lists but they must have bullet points. They say what they think because that's how it is and why dance around it?

It was so interesting learning about all of this. I realized that while I'm so very gold, it's because of the strong blue in me that I can live with my messy desk. See, I'm not so anal as you thought.

This Week's Menu...

This is for you Adrienne. And it's a one time deal. haha!

Being the planner that I am (look for a future post about gold personalities) I try to plan a menu every week. I'm totally lost if I don't and we have things like "You Pick It, You Fix It" nights 4 out of 5 nights and chicken nuggets (or some comparable gourmet offering) the other night. Saturday is always a "You Pick It, You Fix It" night so I guess that would make 5 nights out of 6. Sundays, well that's a whole different story so they don't count in my week of planning. You can see that clearly it's better for everyone if I plan a menu!

Usually in the summer I'm really into cooking and I try new recipes constantly. And I make breakfast frequently. This summer that hasn't really set in yet. Maybe it's all the rain? Yeah, maybe not.

There are only a few new recipes on my menu this week. No, that's not so many - I'm kind of weird about that. You could say that trying new recipes is kind of a hobby for me. I checked a few cookbooks out from the library today - hoping to kick start something great - so we'll see what happens.

Generally The J gets after me if I don't make a good breakfast when I'm out of school but since he doesn't join the land of the living until after 11 or 12 these days breakfasts have fallen by the wayside. I kind of miss them but I'm not really going to cook a big (or even slightly involved) breakfast just for me.

So, here's my menu for this week:

Monday:

Adobe Chicken Wraps (recipe here)

Veggies on the Grill

Salsa and chips

Tuesday: (always breakfast for dinner night - hey Adrienne, don't I owe you a breakfast dinner still?)

Baked Cinnamon French Toast

Wednesday:

Sticky Fingers Ribs

I have decided sides for this one yet...

Oh, and I can't find the ribs in the freezer. There's a chance that someone, who shall remain aMOMynous, gave them to my brother. That's only slightly annoying, right? But I'm moving on...

Thursday:

Stromboli

Zesty broccoli

Friday:

Steak Hi-Hat (crockpot)

Noodles

That's probably as far as I'll get on Friday

I'm also known, mostly in the summer, to just change the menu rather frequently as I find new recipes to try. So who knows, we may not be having all of this after all. ;)

Day One at Rock Ledge

I started my "internship" at Rock Ledge Ranch living history museum yesterday. First off may I ask why there seems to be only one adult chaperone per 20 children on field trips? They (mostly the kids) don't get that whole "don't touch" rule and the one chaperone has a hard time enforcing it. And sometimes they don't even bother. Sigh.

We made butter yesterday. (We're portraying life in the 1880s remember.) That's really a big process and a good work out! Last night my shoulder was getting sore and I couldn't think of why until I realized it's my right shoulder and since I'm right handed I mostly did the churning with my right arm. And since it was my first day the other interpreters took people on tours and I did a lot (but not all) of the churning. It's still sore today. I hope that doesn't last long.

I was sitting on the porch pressing the butter (just one of the steps in the butter making process) and it was raining. I was sitting right outside the kitchen door and there was a fire crackling in the stove in the kitchen, it was quiet and no one was around and it was so peaceful. I just loved it! A short time later the peacock found the tree by the porch and climbed into it and kept - I don't know, what is it peacocks do? scream? - screaming because he didn't like the rain. Poor General Palmer! It wasn't quite as peaceful then but still enjoyable.

When I was about to leave the Lead interpreter came up the house and said there was a tornado watch in Castle Rock and funnels had been spotted. She wanted to warn me since I have to drive through Castle Rock to get home. I'm no tornado chaser so I decided I'd stay a little longer until the watch expired. So I continued to mold the butter...

All in all it was a good day at the ranch. I'm sure to learn some interesting skills this summer that I'll never use in my real life but it'll be fun anyway.

Just Thinking

I just finished reading a Holocaust memoir that really just made me think. A Polish family hid 18 Jews in a bunker under their house for 18 months. With Nazis often living in the house. It was absolutely a miracle that they survived there's no question about that. Reading the story made me wonder what I would do in such a situation.

I'm always glad when I read Holocaust memoir type books that I've never had to deal with such a time. And every time I read one I wonder if I'd be brave enough to hide or help a family in such a scary time. Or would I feel like I have my own family to take care of and I couldn't put them in danger in order to save someone else?

My other thought was how would I handle having to hide like that? Their situation in the bunker was almost as bad as the concentration camps (*almost*) with lice, sores, little food, poor sanitation, boards and a little straw to sleep on, no air circulation, etc. Could I do it? Would I be willing to put up with that and hope for a better day?

These are some of the questions that come up for me. I don't know what the answers are and frankly I hope I never do have to know the answers! But it does make me wonder.

The Superhero You've Never Heard Of

Tiernan had to change his clothes on Saturday (this occurs at least once a day - one simply cannot have anything wet or messy on one's pants unless it's mud) but when he came back downstairs he only had on underwear and a mask. I asked where his clothes were and he said, "I'm Naked Man!" He's also reallllly into being a superhero and was quite happy to find the dress up box upstairs with all sorts of great costume pieces. Except on Saturday when the undies and mask were enough.

I believe Naked Man had just enjoyed a pudding pop...

A couple of good action shots here. I kept thinking it was too bad there wasn't a pool under him...

I for one feel much safer knowing that Naked Man (or which ever superhero is visiting at the moment) is here to protect us!

Wanderlust

I wish I was in Charleston right now. Seriously. Charleston is great! But, if I get thinking about fun places I'd like to be the list would be really long... Just thinking stateside, how about Philadelphia, Boston, Maine (long time obsession that I can't really explain), DC, Williamsburg, Savannah. Ok, I'll stop there cause the list can get fairly long. Or really long. 

Clearly summer is here and my wanderlust has kicked in. Well, I'd be happy to travel any time of the year but it seems to be an especially strong yearning in the summer. Too bad I'm poor. haha! 

Where would you like to go? 

Glasses Clapper

Remember those old commercials for "The Clapper"?  You could put it on your lamps and just "clap" them on and off. It seems like there was something similar for keys so you could find them. I need something like that for my glasses. I don't need my glasses all the time, although that seems to be changing but I'm going to continue to deny that, so I pretty much try to wear them as little as possible. I don't like wearing them and contacts are out. First off, as you'll remember I don't need glasses all the time so why wear contacts? Second, I cannot get the darn things in my eyes. 

The problem is that I have a bad habit of taking my glasses off wherever I am and forgetting them. When I need to leave (especially when I'm in a hurry) I can't find them which of course leads to a frantic search. I can't drive without them so I really can't leave without them so if I'm late for something there's a good chance I couldn't find my glasses because I'm generally a very on time person.  

Sometimes when I take them off and set them on, say, my bed, my nephew jumps on them and smooshes them. I know, I know, I should really just leave them on my face. But let's be honest, I'm not going to. I just need a homing device or a clapper or something in them so I can find them when I need them! Is that so much to ask?

Cooking Classes

We are without a cooking group leader (small enrichment groups) for the moment so I'm trying to plan the summer months so that when we have a new leader she won't have to come up with something instantly. (Perhaps this will be an incentive for the new leader?) In June we'll be doing Dutch Oven cooking. In September I think we'll be doing a class on making and canning your own salsa.  

What would be fun for July and August? Last summer we did summer salads and desserts and we did grilling... I'd love any suggestions that you'd like to see. And if you're in my ward you can still suggest something and I won't ask you to be the group leader. Unless I feel so inspired...  ;)

hair styles

I went to get my hair cut yesterday and I was hoping to find a new style. This raised a couple questions. Well, not so much new questions but for some reason they really annoyed me yesterday.

1. Why isn't there a magazine with haircuts for real people? Ok, I'll admit, I've seen a few of those seriously crazy styles on campus but 99.9% of us would not wear our hair like that and when we want to look at style options... that's not what we want. Or am I alone in that?

2. I often wonder when I do find a cute haircut, "...but will this hair look good even if I'm fully dressed?" I mean what if you got a haircut that only looked good when you were pretty much naked? That would annoy me!  

Same beef with a google search. In fact, you have to be a little more careful there because if you decide that you like a certain starlets hair, for example, and you search her name... Whoa! You may be a little shocked. It's best not to search stars I guess. Maybe I should search "short hair that real women who are fully clothed wear"

3-Year Old Wisdom

Last night I sat on the swing with my nephew, Tiernan, and had an enlightening and entertaining conversation with him. I think 3-years old is just about a perfect age to talk to kids because they'll just sit there and talk to you and they are perfectly comfortable in their logic and they're not afraid to tell you when you are confused.  Here are some of the gems:

There were several bees on the flowers next to us. Tiernan does NOT like bees. 

T - We like honey but not from honey bees.

C - But that's where we get honey - from bees.

T - We don't like that kind of honey.

C - Oh yeah? Where does honey you like come from?

T - Just plain honey from other bees.

C - So honey is ok if it's not from honey bees?

T - Yeah, we don't like them.

C - Hey, guess what? I saw two snakes in our yard yesterday.

T - Were they gardner snakes?

C - Yep. Do you think snakes move fast or slow?

T - Slow.

C - Oh. Have you ever seen a snake move?

T - Yeah. Snakes play soccer.

C - Really? How do they kick the ball?

T - With their tails. 

T - You should take your watch off and put it in your pocket or robbers will get it.

Tiernan would like to live in the top of a tree and stay there forever. 

C - What else lives in trees?

T - Birds. 

C - What about bats?

T - No. They like their dark places to live.

C - What about bugs?

T - No. Bugs don't like trees.

C - If you live in a tree and never come down what will you eat?

T - Leaves. 

C - Do you want to read a book about bats with me?

T - No. I'm scared of bats. I read a book about snow monsters. 

C - Whoa! That's cool.

T - White ones eat bats but not black ones.

C - Black snow monsters? What do black ones eat?

T - Rocks.

Oh, and one of my personal favorites:

T - You can't move that rock. [A large rock in a flower bed.] Only monsters can move it.

C - I'm pretty strong. I bet I can move it.

T - You can't. You are not strong enough.

C - What if I'm Superman strong?

T - [With his face registering complete dismay at my suggestion] You're a girl! You can't move it!

Shoes

My foot is still swollen from surgery and the incision area is still pretty tender (I guess body parts don't like to have people rummaging around in them) so I can't wear normal shoes yet except for my tennis shoes.  That means I've been wearing my surgical shoe to church every Sunday and let me tell ya, as beautiful as it is, I'm so tired of it. 

Then I found out that I have been awarded a scholarship from the Colorado chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and there was a luncheon I had to attend today for it. (More on that later.) Now I realize this might be a little vain, but seriously, I just really didn't want to wear my surgical shoe with my dress to this luncheon. I'm sure it would have been fine but I'm just sick of it. So I've been on a mad search for dress shoes this week. Most shoes are cut so that they cross exactly over my incision and clearly that does not work. Ouch. And most are too tight. Unless I go up a size. Then I can't walk because the left foot is falling out of that shoe. Sigh. I did manage to find a pair of a taupe-ish sort of color shoe that mostly worked (totally flat which is not so good for gnarled feet) and a black one that is mostly not that cute but wasn't too uncomfortable so I bought them and will leave them in the box until I decide they aren't that bad or until I find something I like better that works. (Although that's not likely as I've searched so many shoe stores around here...) 

I put some Dr. Scholl's inserts in the taupe ones and they were ok today.  Hooray! I still don't know what I'll do this summer - flip flops are out - but it's not hot yet...

Unwind

Whenever I finish with finals I come home and I feel a little lost. Generally I have homework to do or something (for example, after midterms you just keep going) so when the semester is over.....I guess I'm still in the cram-your-head-full-memorize-write-essays-study-study-study mode and I don't know what to do. It takes a day to realize that I really don't have homework and I can, well, do something more fun with my time. Don't worry, it's not that I don't have anything to do (I have a huge to do list!), it's just that last bit of pent up energy that's kept in reserve so that I can make it through the semester and it needs to escape. 

I think I'll go shoe shopping tonight. 

Temple Invader

J said that his history teacher was talking about Mormons today.  (I'll put my thoughts in blue.)

He said his wife went to SLC for a business trip and he went along.  He was at Temple Square and wanted to go inside the temple and just see it but, "there weren't any doors, then I saw a couple come out of some panels on the side of the building..." 

Pause

Ok, Mr. historian those 'panels' are not a big secret, they are carved wood doors and I guarantee that the SLC temple is not the only building ever to have carved wood doors.  I mean it has some unique architecture but, doors?  Really. I've even seen doors at this very temple with my own eyes. Pretty sure they haven't removed them.

But here's where it gets better. When the couple left he "grabbed the door and ran inside. Then some guy literally appeared out of nowhere..."  Certainly must have been one of our staff of guardian angels on standby.  We also call them temple workers.  But who knows, perhaps it was a guardian angel - descending from 'nowhere' and all... 

"He just started yelling at me that I can't come in there and had to leave." Not sure 'yelling' is the appropriate term - I can't really see a temple worker yelling at someone to leave.  But then again, if the guy busted in there through our secret doors, maybe he did have to yell at him to get him to leave...

Then of course the class conversation spiraled into all the weird things Mormons do like get married really young and have their kids taken away in Texas.  Oops, not the Mormons but why bother with little things like facts? 

Random Thoughts from Utah

I still can't wear a normal shoe except for tennis shoes (too tight and painful) so on Sundays I have to wear one regular shoe and my surgical shoe.  I was getting my shoes out of my suitcase and Avery said, "Are you just looking for matching shoes?" Who knew a 7-year old would be embarrassed that her aunt was wearing mismatched shoes?

Kelton adores Justin. All weekend he told J where to sit (right next to him if possible and close by if not), and just loved to be with him. I wish J could see how much those kids look up to him and adore him.

Jeremy decided that I'm perhaps more of a nerd than him. (Although he's a math/science nerd which is hard to beat... seriously.) In a nutshell, Elvis came up in the conversation and I had to correct some facts. Jeremy didn't know I knew so much about Elvis. I believe his exact quote was, "And people call me a nerd." Funny. He doesn't all about Elvis? Oh, you mean it's possible that most people don't know the exact date the king died? Hmm. Guess that places me squarely in the nerd category. But I've been there for long time... I'm good with that. 

Just TCB baby!

And for those of you with toddlers - bubbles are a lifesaver in the car! Becky saw the idea on a website so she brought bubbles along. As soon as Mia was fussy I'd start blowing bubbles at her and she immediately calmed down. Now, my back was a little wrenched from being twisted around for so long (but that might have to do w/the cereal fight too...), but the baby stopped crying and that was fabulous. The boys were a little sad that they bubbles didn't reach all the way back to them but it was still entertaining for them too. If you have little ones - try it!

A Weekend Away

We went to Utah this weekend for baby Cameron's blessing. I had an ear infection and cold all last week including when we left on Friday - this is not so good for packing, in case you were wondering. I forgot my toothbrush (good thing Mandy had a spare!), my hairspray, and my camera! That means I don't have any fabulous pictures to share which is sad because baby Cameron is adorable. And so are his siblings and cousins.

Fortunately, aunt Megan was there with her camera. Check out her blog for some fantastic pictures of Cameron and right below his are some great pics of Amelia! 

Becky was holding Cameron and said that he smiled when she said she's his favorite aunt. I reminded her that he just doesn't know yet cause I haven't been able to hold him yet, being sick and all. Poor little guy. Then she said she's the nurturing aunt cause he just fell right to sleep. I said that's fine. I'm not the nurturing aunt, I'm way more fun. I just get the kids riled up. Then send them home. They love me. heh heh.

Sunday morning was chilly and rainy but the sky cleared up beautifully after church and it was a lovely day until about 5pm. That was a great blessing because we could all enjoy our lunch and visit outside and we had a great time. 

On the way home (I rode w/Becky and her kids - we were the fun car - and Justin went w/my parents in the boring grown up car) Becky and I serenaded the kids - which they loved! Although I don't think they believed us that we were the original crooners for the Phantom of the Opera. Cynics. We even used licorice microphones but the boys just ate theirs, they wouldn't sing along. So they're cynics and party poopers. ;)

Then, out of the blue, Joshie threw a fruit snack at me. I couldn't find it so I opened a bag of Captain Crunch and the war was on. We were all throwing cereal at each other for miles. I even got one in Tiernan's mouth when he was laughing - that was great. I 'm pretty sure Becky has Captain Crunch in every nook and cranny of her car. But let's be honest, they'll want to ride with me every time from now on. 

When we stopped for lunch at Burger King I was laughing about something and Justin said, "Mom, don't start squeeling in here!" In case you don't know, when I start laughing hard it sounds like I'm going to die. Literally. Poor Avery was in tears one time because she really thought something was terribly wrong. Well, there probably is something terribly wrong but the doctor just laughed at me when I told him about it so I'm just going to ignore it. Except when I laugh. It's pretty hard to ignore then. Anyway, I was taking a drink of my Diet Coke just as he said that and it made me laugh harder and I had Diet Coke all down my shirt and on my sandwich. Dang. So at that point I had red fruit snack on my shirt (did I mention that Joshie had licked or chewed the fruit snack before he threw it?) and Diet Coke - lookin' good! It was then I realized that J was definitely riding in the right car (the boring adult car) because, being a teenager and all, he would have been horribly embarrassed in the fun car. Poor kid. It's hard to have such embarrassing relatives. 

The Bad Part About Colds...

...is that, besides the achy, head-in-a-vice, runny/stuffy nose crap, I drink a lot of water cause my throat gets so sore - and that means that I'm in the bathroom every hour. (I think we're all aware of how small my bladder is...) That is so annoying. I'm done complaining now - at least here - I just wanted to throw that out there. How was your weekend? ;)

Pillow Case

Last night we had the first in a series of basic sewing classes and we made pillowcases. Isn't this adorable? So, now I think I'm ready to sew historic clothing. Well, I'm not ready to sew historic clothing - by the way, do you know how much fabric those girls used!? - but at least this is a start...

Wicked

I've heard a lot about Wicked, the Broadway musical, and how great it is and now I'm super excited because it's coming to Denver! It will be here this fall, October 7 through November 15, at the Buell theater and tickets go on sale on Sunday. So, who wants to go with me?  I'm really serious by the way. (And of course I won't buy tickets on Sunday but Monday is right after Sunday...) Think how much fun that would be!  

(I could see if J wants to go with me, I've dragged him to several plays and musicals over the years but he's never too excited about it, and these tickets cost a little more than some of the community theaters...)

No or Know

Is "no" the same as "know?" 

What about "their," "there," or "they're" - do they have the same meaning and can they stand in for one another? (Know!  Oh, I mean NO!)

Oh, what about "than" or "then" - same thing? 

Good heavens people! I know (or is that no?) it can be confusing, but for the love! It's college! Look it up and use words correctly. Or don't take online classes wear several people have to reed your wurk. 

And for heaven's sake, stay away from big words that are confusing to use appropriately! (That means 'the right way.')  

The Problem with the 1880s...

I started training today as a docent at Rock Ledge Ranch in Colorado Springs (summer gig) and the house I'll be working in is interpreted in the 1880s. Rock Ledge requires period costumes so we (all of us trainees) were looking through their supply today and trying to find ones that fit. The problem with the 1880s is that apparently they did not have busty women. Hippy women - no problem! Big flowing skirts are very forgiving but tight fitted bodices, not so much. So I had to "rent" a couple patterns to see if we can adjust one of them and whip up my own costume instead of renting one. 

Ok, now seriously, has this never come up before? Or do the bustier girls just have to make their own? And then since they went to all that work maybe they keep them rather than donating them to the museum for future busty docents? I did feel better knowing that 5 of the 6 in docents training today had a hard time finding clothing that fits. I would've felt a little sad if it was just me. Good thing we (notice I keep saying "we" - that's because mom is 100% tied to this project with me) have until June 6th to get it finished. That's enough time right? Right?

Slowin' Me Down

My surgered foot is slowin' me down! You're probably thinking "duh!" - let me assure you I did expect this... It's just that I'm a little impatient - shocking, I know.

Generally I walk pretty fast - there's no need to mosey, just move it. I go nuts when I get stuck behind someone who is taking their sweet time and especially when I get behind a whole group that has to spread out and take up the whole sidewalk and meander and move at turtle pace - just kills me. I mean seriously, what is the deal? Dawdle if you must, but leave room so people can get around you. It's not that I have to be anywhere or that I'm always late, I'm not - I tend to be an early bird - I just walk fast, plain and simple. (But there might be people who do need to get somewhere so really, don't block the whole sidewalk. But I digress...) 

Come to think of it, I have a tendency to leave people behind and not even realize it. One minute they're there, the next they're way behind. What's the deal? Keep up already, ja? Perhaps you've noticed this? Maybe it's better if you haven't. Yeah, I'll hope that you haven't and this is all just a surprising revelation, or confession, to you.

When J was little I'd hold his hand and walk like I normally do until he said, "Mommy, you're going to fast!" Poor kid! He was running to keep up and I didn't even notice. (I'm not talking about one isolated incident either.) But don't worry, I slowed right down. For a minute or so. I'm pretty sure I've done this to my nieces and nephews too. Yeah, I seem to remember Avery telling me to slow down once. Or twice...

So maybe this is a good thing for me. I can learn not to travel at warp speed (ok, I'm not that fast!) and I can see what all the fuss is about dawdling. Or perhaps I should say 'strolling leisurely' - that's a more positive spin. But, let's be honest, once my foot is healed --- there will be no more moseying so be prepared to keep up. 

Baptism Gifts

Mom teaches primary children turning 7 and she loves them! When they leave her class they don't leave her heart. Since they turn 8 the next year they, of course, get baptized and she attends their baptism and, of course, brings a gift. She asked me to make necklaces for the girls (she had I think 6 girls and 2 boys last year) and this is what I came up with.  But what about the boys? I just don't think they'd appreciate a necklace even if it is really cute...  Any thoughts?

Under the Knife

I had surgery on my foot on March 20th and here are some thoughts from the process...

* Anyone who intentionally has surgery (basically meaning people who have plastic surgery, cause that's the only kind I consider totally optional) is crazy! C-R-A-Z-Y.

* Trust the nurses. When the doc says "you'll be up in no time!" and the nurses say "you'll be moving real slow and it'll be painful for a few weeks"  -  the nurses are right.

* Wearing a "shower boot" over the bandaged foot can make showering interesting.  And it makes shaving impossible in the shower (well I couldn't have supported myself on one foot anyway) so I had to use my crappy little electric razor. Did I mention how crappy it is? 

*And my right leg said "YES" on it for several days. (They write 'yes' on the leg so they operate on the correct limb. I think that's a good plan.)

* It was kind of nice to have that forced vacation where I really couldn't do anything. (well, ok, it'd be much more fun to do nothing on a beach with happy feet that don't hurt but I'll take what I can...) It was over spring break so I didn't have to be anywhere either. I read books that had nothing to do with school (well until Friday anyway) and watched movies.  I also made this necklace and bracelet set for Becky:

Here's a better shot of the necklace:

* After I reminded Justin that my room is in the basement he was very attentive and helpful. :) 

*And finally here's today's update... I had the stitches taken out and I still have to wear a surgical shoe but no bandage and no more shower boot.  Yeah.  Not that I can stand on my right leg alone yet but this is progress.

My foot is quite a bit more red and swollen than the doc would like so I have to elevate it above my heart and ice it 2-3 times a day and hope that I can avoid an infection. I'm not too sure how I'll do that 2-3 times a day on school days but I'll figure something out. Apparently this is part of the reason that it still hurts as much as it does.

And for those of you who like icky pictures, here's what my foot looks like today. Be warned - it's not pretty! I fondly refer to it as my Frankenstein foot.