We in Minnesota

Great people

2012-01-19T19:33:00.000-08:00

I have so many great people in my life that you would think having one or two really crappy ones would bother me that much. And usually they don't. However, when I am peri-menopausal...Watch Out. I want to grab them by the throat and lift them off the ground and look into their beady eyes and tell them, "Be nice and get on some meds for that crazy you got going on."

I really enjoy peri-menopause. The hot flashes are exciting. The night sweat are exhilarating. The 30 second crying sprees....so cleansing.

My super power is Snarky. I try to use it only for good.

2012-01-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Clearwater Middle School (where Dara attends school and I work) held a MLK Day of Service. Channel 5 news came and filmed.
http://chaska-chanhassen-waconia.kstp.com/news/news/123540-waconia-school-district-holds-day-service-honor-mlk-jr-day

New favorite blog

2011-12-28T15:17:00.001-08:00

http://itjustgetsstranger.blogspot.com/

I want him to be my next-door neighbor.

The End of 2011

2011-12-28T14:49:00.000-08:00

My end of year volunteering was amazing and exhausting.

My church (Waconia Ward) donates gifts to the residents of Good Samaritan Care Center. When our ward became smaller last year because of boundary changes, we invited the Eden Prairie Ward to help us out. What a wonderful way to give gifts to those who are nearing the end of their lives, but can still offer so much. I was in charge and had lots of help. The best helpers were brothers, Casey and Austin. They were such a big help. And there were wonderful families who came and help deliver the 100 gift bags.

I also drove some of the youth to the St. Paul Temple to do baptisms for the dead. Long drive. Very different from being a leader in Salt Lake. Here they put you to work. Small temple. Wonderful volunteers from the wards around MN and I got to be one of them. It was a bit hard being there with one of the young women who keeps telling lies about my son. I was nice to her, but I did want to shove her into the corner of the dressing room and ask her what her problem is. But I didn't. I smiled and was helpful. I do this because I know crazy people and she is one of them. That took a lot out of me.

I also was one of the Waconia Area Women of Today in charge of the Waconia District 110 Toy Drive. There were meetings with my wonderful co-chairs. Cary was and is amazing. She passed out signs to businesses and was busy, busy, busy. All the other co-chairs did their job above and beyond. There were e-mails and phone calls from businesses who wanted to be drop sites for toys and lovely people who wanted to volunteer their time. There were e-mails and phone calls from people in need of help this season.

On Wed., Dec. 14, I left work at 1:00 and picked up books from Bayview Elementary's 2nd grade. They collected books and money for the Toy Drive.

The second graders at Bayview Elementary School in Waconia recently completed Books For Kids, a holiday tradition where the students collect books and monetary donations for books that are donated to the Waconia Toy Drive. Over the years, Bayview second graders have collected more than 3,000 books for the effort. This year, the students donated more than 200 books worth $1,400+ for the effort. The 8th annual Waconia Toy Drive concludes at the Waconia Fire Station on Thursday, Dec. 15. Patriot photo by Todd Moen

Then I went over to the Fire Station to get tables organized and set up. Randy Sorenson, Fire Chief, has been so wonderful to let us use the Station and bother him with questions and us just being us. Then a couple of the city workers came over with two big truckloads of gifts from the amazing people and businesses who had donated. Dan Benham's hockey team came over and started getting everything organized. I was so impressed that a group of teenage boys could work so hard and carefully. They were amazing. Later a group from St. Joseph's Catholic Church came over and finished the organizing. We actually had to forcefully stop the hockey team from organizing because we needed something for the kids from St. Joe's to do.

I did get to go home for dinner on Wednesday evening. Back to the Station at 8:00 am. People were already lined up, waiting for the doors to open at 9:00 am. We had people volunteering to wrap presents and volunteering to be "personal shoppers." The personal shoppers have a list of how many gifts, games, books and stocking stuffers each child gets and a list of the genders and ages of the children the parents are "shopping" for. They also carry the big bags to hold all the gifts. This went from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.

When it looked liked no other parents were coming, we started boxing up the gifts that were left. We sent boxes to a family homeless shelter in North Minneapolis, Ridgeview Hospital Pediatrics Unit, the two elementary schools, the Ronald McDonald House, Children's Hospital, and a battered women's shelter.

There were so many amazing parents who needed help this year. One beautiful woman had shopped for her kids and stopped back by the registration table where we were sitting. She had tears on her cheeks and told her how thankful she was. We hugged her and told her that she was the reason we do this.

The best part was that this year there were not any women shopping who had their nails done, really nice purses and outfits that looked like they cost $200.00. And no, the people who did shop for their kids were not in gross clothes and did not look like they were "needy." But there is a difference in people who are doing their best and need help with toys for their kids and people who are spending their money on stoopid stuff and taking advantage of the kindness of others.

I have spending this week going through piles of papers and organizing and recycling. It is strange not having any snow in MN. I did get my Christmas cards sent out before Christmas. Today I sent off two boxes to Salt Lake. Just little gifts so the family doesn't forget who we are.

Love to friends and families. Peace and Good Will Toward Men.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T18:13:00.001-08:00

Minnesota is in a drought. No rain for FOREVER. We did have one snow storm. It was almost like Utah. The snow came and then the sun came out and POOF! the snow was gone. Thanksgiving Day was in the 50s.

At our house we had 19 people over, including my little family of 5. Kelly cooked a wonderful meal. Others brought amazing side dishes. Good food, good people, laughter, games, a puzzle...what more could you ask for. Well, except maybe having more family around.

I am enjoying working at the middle school. It is all about the kids. There are some amazing kids out there. Some that are struggling with understanding math or language arts. Others who are struggling with home life as well as school. There is one boy, a fifth grader, who comes to the Homework Hub after school just to get stuff done. Whenever he sees me in the hall, he says, "Hello Miss Lisa. How are you today?" It just makes my heart happy.

I got to share some Mormon history in US History class. The teacher had a time-line on the board that started with "Joseph Smith sees Angel Moroni." The kids were also reading information and it talked about the Golden Plates. I shared some corrections like: Joseph Smith seeing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and why he saw the Angel Moroni. Only in a non-Utah school could I talk about this. I did it in a very scholastic way. Not preachy. Just history.

Too much thought...my brain might explode

2011-11-08T19:54:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I have given too much thought to two things. Well, I suppose they are people.

Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian.

I have gotten a bit of joy out of their sorrows. This is wrong of me. I am a better person than this. I have checked page 2 of the newspaper daily to see if there is news of them and what they are doing.

I need to go to a 12 step program..."Hello, my name is Lisa and I am a...?" A what? I DON'T KNOW.

I don't follow any of Kim's shows, but I seem to know a lot about her. Scary.

Maybe if we all ignore Kim and Lindsay they will just fade away.

And why can't the Cleaning Fairy come while I am at work?

2011-10-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

I started a job....kind of a real job. I am the AmeriCorp Promise Fellow at the middle school in town. (I am basically a paid volunteer.) I have my own office and I am getting organized and attempting to get my calendar figured out so I will know when I can help kids with homework and anything else that comes up.

Brannon and Dara came by after school to see my office. I think they were pretty impressed with their mom.

It is getting chilly, but no snow or rain yet. But Winter is COMING!!!!!! My body and brain are not quite ready for the cold. But all my winter clothing is out and on hangers or on their shelves.

Kelly has been working from home for the past couple of days and Doug (the cat) snuggles with him and purrs and loves him. When I was home with him everyday all he wanted to do was chase me around the house...Doug, not Kelly.

Pictures of Summer and Utah

2011-10-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

This was our parking strip....weeds and crappy dirt.

This is Brannon helping me dig out the weeds and chop up the dirt clods.

This is another part of my garden. It will keep growing and expanding.

Dara dressed up Doug in this baby dress. He would not move for a while. When he finally did move, he slunk around.

This is Smudge. He was a kitten that we were cat sitting for a couple of weeks. We are either stoopid or nice. He was a very kitten.

Dara in Utah at Temple Square.

Quail. I have not seen quail in Minnesota. I miss them and their tiny turd babies running around in the Spring.

The Salt Lake Temple

A statue of Christ.

Snowbird pictures...

Dara and Sierra

My dad, Papa Nile.

My mom, Grandma Susan

Papa

Dara and Natalie

Sloan, the the back, Grandma Susan holding Quinn at Quinn's baby blessing and Bailey's baptism party

Sloan and Dara

Steve and Sloan

Sloan's cool tattoo

Bailey, who got baptized.

Steve, Ruth, Quinn, Bailey and Sloan

P.S. Utah, if you think it is humid, come to Minnesota where you can walk outside in really wrinkly clothes and wait two minutes and have non-wrinkly clothes. Where you can just stand for one minute and be dripping sweat...while doing nothing. That is humid. While in Utah I only was sweaty one day. I was not even glistening the other 13 days.

2011-10-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

William, our student from Brasil, helped make a quick dinner the other night. He was in awe of the "magic" food.

There was a pot of boiling water. I asked William to get a wooden spoon and come over to the pot. I poured little white pellets into the boiling water. William stirred. Then...poof! Mashed potatoes.

Another joy of living in the United States.

I got a "job." It is more that I am a paid volunteer, but I am excited. I am the AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at Clearwater Middle School. I have my own office. I will be working with the students - helping out where needed.

2011-10-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

Painting and staining and tearing out grass and moving flowers. Oh, what beautiful days it is in Minnesota. 80 degree weather and sunshine. Makes me want to sing, "Scatter sunshine all along the way....cheer and bless and brighten...every passing day!"

We have a foreign exchange student living with us this school year. His name is William and he is from Brasil. It has been fun getting to know him and he is funny and kind. Dara got to pick him from the list of students sent to us and she picked him because of his good grades.

Dara is now in Young Womens. She loves it. Being in Primary this last year has been long. She is a great kid. Love her.

Brannon is 16. Love him. Sometimes he does stoopid things. I need to call my mom and apologize to her for everything I did when I was 16.

Something black

2011-09-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

I finally have finished cleaning out my kitchen cupboards. I started the project a while ago. This is the taking everything out, taking out the old, ugly contact paper, dumping the crumbs that end of in there from somewhere, disinfecting them and putting in new contact paper that will be old and ugly in three years.

Today's cupboard is tall and has four drawers and had some unknown black thing in the bottom corner, hiding itself from the light. It looked almost like a fig, but I don't think it was a fig. Why would a fig be hiding in my cupboard? It didn't have hair or a tail...that made me very happy.

But now all is happy and organized.

2011-09-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

Our local church has not had many trials or major illnesses. Now we have one very sweet lady who has two forms of Leukemia and one cute young pregnant mom who lost her baby at 35 weeks.

I knew that I really liked these women, but I now know that I love them and, if I could, would take away their difficulties and sickness.

I believe there are angels watching over them...ones we can see (us) and other we can't see.

I appreciate being able to help and am grateful that, at this time, my family is healthy.

Saint Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be confident knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

I am published...again.

2011-09-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here are a few letters to our town paper, The Waconia Patriot, that just got me mad and thinking. I don't feel that the school board or the superintendent want their own way. They want what is best for the children of this community.

Here is just one of mean guy's letters. Maybe he needs to poop.

School district referendum: Round 2

Published: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 9:59 AM CDT

To the editor:

Last week's headline in the Waconia Patriot announcing another school referendum is stunning. In only two months time, the school board is back attempting to sell another plan.

Like a petulant child, they are throwing a temper tantrum. It is clear the board and superintendent hold the taxpayer in utmost disdain and contempt. Who are we to question their authority, wisdom and foresight? Who are we to send them an embarrassing 2.7 to 1 defeat?

So the board is taking an $8 million defeat, raising it to $17 million and selling it as being "tax neutral"? In other words, your taxes will never go down, only continue to increase. That, according to the superintendent is the board's version of "due diligence." I call it changing lipstick on a pig!

And soon thereafter, the push will be made for a new high school. More "tax neutrality"? The disconnect with reality is astounding!

With no improvement in the economy, it is irresponsible to burden the taxpayer with undoubtedly higher and certainly a prolonged tax liability. Yet the board seems oblivious to this. Rather they appear motivated to craft any clever plan to get their way.

The Reinhardt Study failed, now we have "tax neutrality." The voters appear to favor the "tax elimination" plan. The gauntlet has been thrown down and the battle is on.

I presume the school district has an anti-bullying policy. Does any of it apply to the taxpayers?

Joe Polunc

Cologne

_____

Then this guy wrote in and I thoroughly agree with him.

School capacity issues aren't going away

Published: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 10:53 AM CDT

To the editor:

The Waconia Patriot's "Letters to the Editor Policy" clearly states that the number of letters accepted from a single letter writer may be limited during the course of a year. Please advise your readers when Joe Polunc of Cologne will reach his limit. We have been subjected to enough of his opinions.

The school board and superintendent are using the best information available to them to plan for an inevitable future of growth.

Voters obviously did not agree with their last proposal, but the school capacity issues that face District 110 are not going to go away. I have never attended a school board meeting, but I am still confident that the board and superintendent know more about the facts of our situation than any reader with an opinion.

If you believe that the board is "changing the lipstick on a pig," then constructively participate. To do otherwise is to be "like a petulant child throwing a temper tantrum."

Mark Billstrom

Waconia

______

Then these three letters were in the paper.

Board isn't looking at data, all the options

Published: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 4:40 PM CDT

To the editor:

I have always thought of the editorial page as being open to a wide variety of opinions on many topics. Some more contentious than others. I have written three letters addressing the proposed Waconia school expansion.

I have looked at the data supplied and stated that the school board has fallen short of a convincing argument. The voters agreed. We are now facing another referendum on Nov. 2. Student enrollment may eventually support a new school or two, time will tell. Those of us holding the school board to a higher standard do not want the children to fail! We want academic excellence along with fiscal responsibility.

As to my detractor, Mark Billstrom, I have no control over the editor's decision to publish. I can only research, write and submit. Yet if I was supportive of the school boardÕs proposals, would Mr. Billstrom object? He has faith in the boards' ability to make decisions.

At this point I do not. I believe the board is not looking at all the data and options. Mr. Billstrom, I am being constructive by my participation on this page. I have no option other than to speak openly here, but I accept your verbal arrows as part of the discourse.

However there is another issue. I am writing as a committee of one. I do not represent anyone else or any group.

This may not be the case with Mr. Billstrom. He is willing to give the school board a blank check of approval. Rather overzealous in his support I thought. After a little research, I discovered he is the chairman for the city of Waconia Planning Commission. Hmm. A significant development.There may be different motives at play. How supportive is the Planning Commission with the school board? Wouldn't a new school(s) be an attraction for new growth? He is not just a local interested resident, in my opinion.

Freedom of speech is like sunlight. It finds the truth hidden in the shadows.

Joe Polunc

Cologne

Where is common sense approach to new school?

Published: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 4:40 PM CDT

To the editor:

This letter is in regard to Mr. Billstrom's letter of Aug. 4 about Joe Polunc's letter to the editor. It must be distressing and irritating to read the truth when one has divergent opinions.

Contrary, I believe the Patriot circulation department would benefit greatly if it was possible to employ Mr. Polunc to write a weekly column for the Patriot. One column I would like to see is why the school board is hell-bent to build a school six miles from its base core which shares a property line with a very suitable site for schools and athletic fields.

Has anyone computed the cost of moving students daily between the existing facilities and the proposed site? I assure you it would be significant. It seems common sense has taken a prolonged vacation.

Keep them coming, Joe! Thank you.

Roman Sinnen

New Germany

Who is "We?"

Published: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 4:40 PM CDT

To the editor:

In the Aug. 4 edition, Mark Billstrom writes about Mr. Joe Polunc, another letter writer, and says: "...we have been subject to enough of his opinions ...."

First question, who is we? You are stating you speak for more people than yourself. Well, do NOT include me in your "we." I also suspect most of the Waconia Patriot readers should not be included in your "we."

Here is a hint. If you don't like a certain letter writer, don't read those letters. Do not attempt to curtail that person's First Amendment rights!

Mr. Polunc's letters are clear, concise, and well researched. They give a view of the way things really are. Perhaps you don't like them because they conflict with your view. But is that not the point? To offer more than one view on a subject, so a decision can be made?

Perhaps you would feel more comfortable living in a country where the right to free speech is controlled. And where one's opinion can land them in jail if it is the "wrong" opinion. There still are many available.

Tom Radde

Mayer

______

Maybe they all need a good enema.

I know we all don't agree on the same ideas or plans, but I would like to know how many times these three people have been to a school board meeting.

And so here is my response:

Make a difference - run for School Board

Published: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 4:27 PM CDT

To the editor:

I don't know Mark Billstrom, but I too am weary of reading what people think should be done. I want to see Roman Sinnen, Joe Polunc and Tom Radde run for the school board and try to make the changes they want made.

If all you do is complain without stepping up to help make changes for the better, you are just a complainer. And eventually no one wants to be around a compulsive complainer.

Lisa Amott

Waconia

Stoopid Steves

2011-09-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

This morning one of the Steves (Squirrel) was in the middle of the road in front of our house...DEAD! His guts were hanging out and he was really stiff. I tenderly picked him up with a shovel and gave him a proper burial...in the garbage can.

Two hours later the other Steve is about two feet away from first Steve's bloody left-overs...DEAD! I also gave him a proper burial.

What am I going to do without my Steves?

2011-08-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

My letter was printed in the Salt Lake Tribune. I feel famous. Okay...I felt famous for about 2 minutes.

The Steves are chasing each other around the yard and leaping up and kicking off the kitchen window. I wish I had their energy and sense of fun.

Utah was great. Everyone was complaining about the humidity and the heat. Bahhahahahah!! So funny. I did not sweat for two weeks. It was so NOT humid in Utah. But I guess it depends on your frame of reference.

I am a Mormon and dangit, a Mormon just believes

2011-08-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

This sad letter was published in the Salt Lake Tribune on 8/10/11. Sad, sad letter (I am being incredibly snarky).

The Mormon people are accustomed to persecution. Their founder was chased, tormented, tarred and feathered and finally martyred. His followers were driven from city to city, their homes often burned and their loved ones killed.

The governor of Missouri issued an extermination order against them. All of this happened in a land founded by people in search of religious freedom.

Now a Broadway musical about Mormons and the Book of Mormon continues the harassment.

Even the American Civil Liberties Union, which often comes to the aid of the underdog, is silent.

Any other group of people treated so poorly would likely be screaming, suing and staging rallies on the streets of Washington.

Amazing!

Carolyn B. Nelson
Salt Lake City
_____

So I wrote in (we will see if it will be published):

In response to the Carolyn Nelson (BofM Persecution), I have to say, "Find something constructive to do with your time." I moved from Utah to MN three years ago and am an active Mormon there. I have had so many non-Mormons ask me questions about being a Mormon and what we believe because of the Book Of Mormon Broadway Play.

The song "I Believe" from the play states everything we do believe. "The Lord God created the universe, I believe that He sent His only Son to die for my sins, and I believe that ancient Jews built boats and sailed to America. I am a Mormon..." Sit back, listen to the songs, and don't judge something because you don't understand it. Be a Mormon.

Stand up for all that is wonderful and weird about us. When the show comes to MN, I will be in the audience enjoying something great. Go out and do something kind for someone else who is not a Mormon. Be an example and remember to laugh at yourself.

Lisa Schow Amott
Waconia, MN

Band from Waconia, MN

2011-07-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

I don't know these guys personally, but it is cool that they are from Waconia. They are playing at our Relay for Life of Waconia on August 19.

My sister-in-law

2011-07-20T11:52:00.001-07:00

http://www.daviscountyutah.gov/sheriff/divisions/jail/current_inmate_roster/default.cfm

Inmate Details

AMOTT, ERIKA JANAE

Booking Number:	201105201
Name:	AMOTT, ERIKA JANAE
Booking Date:	06/06/2011 Monday
Age:	35
Gender:	Female
Arresting Agency:	FARMINGTON DISTRICT COURT
Housing Unit:	WC Women

Charges
State Statute	Court	Bail Fine*	Type
DEALING IN HARMFUL MATERIAL TO A MINOR	Farmington District Court	$0.00	N/A

Other People's Children

2011-07-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

We hosted a Homemade Ice Cream and Fireworks party on July 4th. I made 6 kinds of ice cream and the fireworks were shot off the island across from our street. Beautiful.

My complaint is other people's children. My daughter found four children from the same family in MY bedroom. What were they doing in MY bedroom? Everyone was outside. Why did they think they could go into someone else's house and play in their bedrooms? Especially MY bedroom!? These are the same children who last year when Dara told them to go outside said, "You are the boss of me" and "You don't own this house." Well, Dara is the boss of them if they are in MY house. Rude. I like their parents, but I really don't like their children.

Thoughts

2011-07-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

We finally saw a raccoon on the road that was not dead. Raccoons are not very fast crossing the highways so I now understand why there are millions dead on the roads. I thought the head raccoons sent out the sick, old or crazy raccoons on some "secret mission across the street" so they could get rid of them.

To the crazy guy behind me the other day on the freeway:

If I am merging on another freeway and all the people around me are going 10 mph because traffic is moving slowly, you do not need to honk and yell at me and look at me like I am crazy because I left a car length open in front of me. I did not learn to drive in MN and, therefore, am not a tailgater like you. Okay, I apologize. I might have had two car lengths in front of me. But you never know when someone will slam on their brakes and I don't want to be in the other car's backseat. Literally. Or maybe you were mad because someone was in front of you or I was driving a red car or you had to poop and there was no where to pull over.

I think that tailgaters don't like to be alone on the road. That is why they travel in packs. Gangs of tailgaters moving across the city, not wanting to be alone.

Not these kinds of tailgaters:

May this is the answer.

Girls Camp 2011 Video Links

2011-07-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

For some reason I could not put my videos on the blog. But I could put them on Youtube.com. So here are the links:

Bishops playing sack game   Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp 2011 #1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__bifyoyfJI

Girls playing Pass the Orange   Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp 2011 #2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3gg5Td6AsE

Bishops helping Bishop Aaron Pratt eat a cookie Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp #3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeW7mxSDbaw

4th Year Girls presenting their skit Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp 2011 #4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVAZ7Spdgmc

Leaders/Girls pop balloons with their bodies Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp 2011 #5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb_7TVCT4KE

Cindy Briggs and young women singing/lip syncing to a Hannah Montana song. I think Cindy forgot to take her medication that day   Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp 2011 #6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8AHUUoraYA

More of Cindy Briggs and young women singing/lip syncing to a Hannah Montana song    Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp 2011 #7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1mYTgpKSHs

Bishop Ackerman trying to get ping pong balls out of a tissue box. Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp 2011 #8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmZRnV-S7H0

Girls playing Pass the Orange game Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp 2011 #9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OInMVP0FITc

YCLs against Leaders playing Pass the Orange game. You should love your neighbors, but this is a bit...um...out of the ordinary. I think this one is my favorite. So much blackmail material.   Camp Games Minneapolis, MN Stake Girls Camp 2011 #10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bZ2oglWxkc

Girls Camp 2011 Lots of pictures

2011-07-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

My shoes at camp. I was actually trying to figure out how to use my new camera.

Dara, Ellen, Shay and Lizzie from Waconia Ward eating in the lodge.

An extremely rainy flag ceremony.

We were getting ready to go to the bog.

My bog boots. I did not take my camera to the bog in case I fell down...or in the mud. The bog was amazing. If someone jumped up and down a few feet away from you, your body moved up and down because everything in the bog is interconnected.

Kailia, Ellen, Shay, Lizzie and Dara.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty.

Greenery everywhere

Dara and me.

The beautiful lake at Laurentian Environmental Center.

The Climbing Wall. This is the 2nd Year Girls that I cabined with.

Our bishop came up Friday afternoon to spend time with the girls.
Dara, Shay, Aaron Pratt, Lizzie, Ellen, Kailia.

The girls talked Aaron (Bishop) into going on a boat ride. They told him they knew how to row. Yeah, right.

The start of going in circles.

One of the other bishops leaping in to help.

Finally, Aaron decides that if he is going to go anywhere on the lake, he had better take charge of the oars.

Off they go!!

After the boat ride. They survived!!!

Me, Hollie Schrader, Aaron Pratt, Shay, Lizzie and Ellen just relaxing.

The sun is so refreshing after all that rain.

How come Ellen looks so nice and clean? Oh, that's right. We had cabins and showers.

I think this is an episode of some dance reality show.

This is Aaron Pratt trying to eat a cookie. This is how they do it in MN. This is why we are so healthy. It takes forever to eat just one cookie.

White Dresses for Baptism? Here is my rant...

2011-06-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

My good friend Val is a convert to the LDS Church. Her youngest daughter is getting baptized on Sunday. She was getting pretty worried because she couldn't find her daughter's white dress. I burst out laughing and told her it was not in the Baptism Rule Book that girls wear white dresses on their baptism day.

Then I thought I had better check out the ultimate rule book...."To the Google!"

I found this post:
"The problem is that DD isn't really aware of the tradition because it wasn't a big thing where we lived before. But I've seen every one of the 9 or 10 little girls in her soon to be Activity Day's group wear a white dress to church. They are obviously the after baptism dress. (Parents don't generally buy rowdy, bouncy little girls pure white dresses just to wear on any old Sunday.) I doubt DD will be aware of the tradition before her baptism next month but I don't want her to feel gypped either once she gets to know these girls in the ward better and finds out she didn't get a new white dress to put on after. Then we have another little girl coming up close on her heels. For sure they will both be appraised of the tradition by the time she gets baptized in 16 months. I always feel like a bad mom when I buck these traditions. (We don't do sleepovers either and I've taken endless flack for it.)

Another thing my husband pointed out is that he doesn't want our kids identifying these sacred ordinances with all the things they'll get. He wants them to be focused on the spiritual blessings rather than the physical presents. My daughter is already asking her grandma to give her a blanket for her baptism since one of her friend's grandma gave her granddaughter a "comforter" to represent the gift of the Holy Ghost.

I don't know. I'm still sitting on the fence on this one. But I'll probably side with my husband since our older daughters say they didn't miss having the white dress, and because I'm basically very practical by nature. "

WHO STARTED THIS "TRADITION"? You wear white as you are being baptized. Then you change into your normal church clothes. It may be a new suit or dress that you get, but it does not have to a white dress.

Tradition? Bah! This is just a group of people wanting to be better "Mormons" than others. A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past.^[1 (wikipedia)

Do what you want, wear what you want, but don't make a sacred ordinance less sacred because you have to keep up with the Jones.

I guess I am one of the people whose socks don't have to match their underwear.

Girls Camp

2011-06-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

In Utah, this is what Young Women's Girls Camp might look like:

or this:

In Minnesota, this is what Girls Camp looks like:

The Laurentian Environmental Center is an accredited, year-round educational facility located in the Superior National Forest in Northeastern Minnesota.

The Center is a residential learning center with 160 beds, five large classroom buildings, a lodge and dining facility that seats 175 – serving healthy, home-cooked meals from menus developed by a dietician – 100 acre pristine lake, access to hundreds of acres of wilderness with trout streams and diverse wildlife habitat. Our hiking and ski trails connect with the Big Aspen hiking and ski trails – comprising a thirty-mile system. The Center maintains a 12-station Challenge Course, a 32-foot outdoor climbing wall, dogsled yard and trails, archery range, assorted watercraft (including canoes and rowboats) sauna, outdoor campfire theater, and large playing field.

Dara and I go to Girls Camp next week. I think that Camp should be 4 days of no showering and latrines that stink so bad that you don't go to the bathroom the entire time you are at camp. Discomfort bring spiritual moments.

Apparently I will be be with the third year girls. I am not sure how I am feeling about being with a bunch of Justin Bieber Feverish girls.

2011-05-31T17:50:00.000-07:00

I love my son. He wants so badly to grow a beard. However, he got the Schow genes and can only grow some small hairs on his chin. He will let them grow and stroke them as they get longer. I call them his chin pubs. He eventually shaves his few hairs and his cheek fuzz. This comic strip is totally Brannon.

Getting Old....Again

2011-05-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

I found a wispy hair growing straight out from the side of my neck the other day. It was about an 1 1/2 inches long. I had never seen it before. Was it there for months? Did it grow that long overnight? I am going to go with the overnight growth idea. That makes me feel better.

2011-05-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally sprung. It is still quite rainy. But the flowers are growing and the trees are blooming with color and fragrance.

There was a tornado that hit North Minneapolis. It did quite a bit of damage. Scary things happening out in the world.

I spoke in Church on Sunday, then I said the prayer in Sunday School and then the prayer in Relief Society. I guess they missed me while I was in Nursery. On the topic of Nursery, I am having a hard time letting go of not being in charge of it. I miss being a "mother bear" with regard to the room and the snacks and the kids. I guess part of me really enjoyed that calling. What is wrong with me? I was in there for 15 months. I needed to be with adults. But I miss it....a bit.

I am also doing well on a little project I call "Forgiveness." It is a small thing that is actually really hard to do. I have been working on this project for over 8 years. But I really think I have overcome a major hurdle. I realized, in my heart and brain, that I have no control over this person or what she does or who they hurt. Logically, I knew that all along. But my heart and soul were taking longer to understand that. I believe this person and I were linked together and I always seemed to know when they were doing something wrong. I always wanted to stop them from doing the wrong thing, but I CAN'T. And that finally clicked. Yeah!!!

Now I get to move on to something else. Being in bed by 10:30 on weeknights. Why am I such a night owl?

The frogs have been chirping. I watched a kestrel catch a small bird in its talons in our yard. The birds are so wonderful, except when they run into our windows and break their tiny necks and die. The swallows are back and I watched two of them mate. It was so "nature channel." It was great. I love living here (especially when winter is over).

Questions

2011-05-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

What do you do with non-Mormons who are visiting for work in Utah over the weekend?

How come some kids are disrespectful to adults who are NOT their parents?

How come I want to be a "morning person" but stay up late so that being a "morning person" becomes just wrong?

How come night sweats and hot flashes are becoming fun and when I don't have them I start to miss them?

How come people idolize some humans and de-idolize others? (I know that is not a real word, but it just makes sense in my mind.) Can't we all just get along? I guess not. I am trying to be a nice person, but there are some people who just need to go away...Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michelle Bachmann, and some others. Does there always have to be complaining and whining and finger-pointing?

How come I seem to have a crazy person in my life every 7 years? What does that say about me? And I don't mean crazy in a fun way. I am talking all out "cranked up the crazy and ripped off the knob" (Thank you Stephen Colbert). One day the crazies will be gone from my life. They will have moved on, but hopefully not to harm other people.

A recipe from long ago...probably the 70s

2011-04-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

I was going through my recipe "pile" and found a book put together by the Forest Dale Ward Relief Society.
I may have been a bit punchy after going through so many recipes, but this one made me laugh.

Wheatie Ting-A-Lings

2 pkgs chocolate chips
2 cups Wheaties

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Pour over Wheaties. Cover all Wheaties with chocolate. Place on cookie sheet and put cookie sheet in freezer for 2 hours.

Mmmm good.

Old

2011-04-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

I am now "officially" old. I need reading glasses. I couldn't see the tiny hole in the tiny bead that I was trying to put a tiny thread through. So sad.

Maybe I will get pair like one of these.

I wonder if I will be forever losing them like other old people I know.

Love these videos... they get funnier the more I watch them. #4 is my favorite.

2011-04-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

Tailgating

2011-04-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

Tailgating is the practice of driving on a road too close to the vehicle in front, at a distance which does not guarantee that stopping to avoid collision is possible. Approximately one third of rear-end collisions involve tailgating. Tailgating can occur because of a lack of perceived risk in so doing. Thus, it is done unconsciously or negligently, very often by people who consider themselves safe drivers and generally obey the other rules of the road. (Wikipedia)

To the Minnesota Tailgaters: STOP IT!!! If I look in my rear view mirror and it looks like you are sitting in MY backseat, you are too close. If I can smell your breath, you are too close. If I can see how many gray hairs you have, you are too close. If I can see the boogies in your nose, you are too close. I am driving the speed limit (and actually going 5 mph over the speed limit) so stop trying to make me go faster by "pushing me along."

Beautiful

2011-04-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

As I exercised I watched two kestrels soar over Lake Waconia. Beautiful.

The frogs are singing by the ponds. Beautiful.

The Red Winged Blackbirds are back in the fields. Beautiful.

Spring is here!!!!

Another New Favorite Band

2011-04-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

I have a really great friend, Mary Kay Braun, here in Waconia. One of Mary Kay's sons is Travis Braun. He is an artists. One of my friends, Jenna Forbush Norwood, met Travis while at BYU and bought one of his prints for her cousin as a birthday present. Jenna also worked at Brighton Girl's Camp with the sister and wife of two of the Fictionist members. Small world.

Here is part of an e-mail Travis sent to his friends and family on March 31, 2011:

Hey Everyone,

So there is this local rock band from Salt Lake named Fictionist. I recently went to one of their shows, introduced myself and hung out with them on their tour bus (no joke) I was so impressed with how cool & down to earth they all are so I decided to create some artwork for them. I attached 2 pieces I did to this email (see below) And they actually really liked one of my pieces so much that they contacted me and said they would love to make some t-shirts out of my design!!! I am SO stoked, cause these guys are SUPER talented and on the verge of becoming very famous!

Currently they are in a competition to be on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. They would be the FIRST unsigned (meaning they have NO record deal) band in history to make the cover of RS! That is HUGE, Rolling Stone is the biggest music magazine in the world. They made it past the first round of 16 bands and are now one of 8 bands left in the running.

SO... what I would LOVE for you to do is, visit the following link and where it says "Rate this artist" click on 5 STARS (the stars have no color until you scroll over them then they turn yellow, then once you click on the stars they should turn red and stay red, that is how you know that your vote counted)
HERE IS THE LINK TO RATE THEM http://www.fictionist.com/rollingstone/ZPR

And if that isn't enough, I am also trying to get them to come play at the school I teach at, the principal has oked it, the lead singer of Fictionist said "yeah man that would be rad, we would love that", now the only thing is that he (the lead singer, Stu) has to check their schedule and try to make it work.... so I am waiting to hear back from them, there is a very good chance this could happen!

Trav

PS - The piece with the hand was inspired by Fictionist's first album "Invisible Hand" and is the piece they want to use to make t-shirts. This one was just a sketch, I am currently recreating this piece with better craftsmanship, higher resolution, and playing with colors & fonts.

The other piece was inspired by their song "Noisy Birds" the lyrics to the song are as follows,

Noisy birds singing at the break of dawn

How dare they wake such a miserable man with their singing and their carrying on

Where'd they get the idea they could be so fancy and free?

These noisy birds got it all wrong, they got to hang their head like me

2011-04-05T14:00:00.001-07:00

Dust, dust and more dust. It is really my fault. I have been sanding pieces of furniture and the back of the bathroom door and so....dust.

Cat hair and dust make for an interesting combination. The dust bunnies under my bed were, well, scary.

My son is very loveable. He likes to give hugs, which are great. He is even getting along with his sister which she loves. At this very moment we have a very peaceful home. Thanks Brannon.

2011-03-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

Why do people paint over beautiful wood in their homes. We have an original 1920s bathroom door and sometime before we moved in someone painted one side of the door. So STOOPID. I have been hot gunning the paint and scrapping and sanding and still there is more sanding to do to get it to its original beauty.

I am working on some internal betterment. It is really hard. Especially the forgiving of crazy people who do things to harm and don't think there are long term consequences to them.

Another Damn You Auto Correct

2011-03-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

One of our ex-missionairies, Elder Bowdrie Price, had this lovely auto correct happen to him:

It just makes me laugh.

Making Your Produce Last Longer

2011-03-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Making Your Produce Last Longer
by frugal jen on March 15, 2011 in Frugal But Gourmet, Series on Frugal Living

As we are approaching spring and more fruits and veggies are going to be in season I thought I would talk about making them last longer in your fridge. I hate it when I get all excited about buying a bunch of fresh produce (or growing it) and then I forget about them for a few days- and they ends up being less that appetizing.

So let’s talk about keeping our produce in tip top shape for longer!!

1. For the best taste don’t keep tomatoes in the fridge, so you will just have to eat these up quickly!!

2. Store your garlic, onions and potatoes in the pantry (in baskets if you can). And make sure you keep the onions from other foods- they can spoil it more quickly.

3. Make sure your refrigerator is set for 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below.

4. When you get home from the store dry off any excess moisture from vegetables. Store in plastic bags with a layer of paper towels. Make sure they stay sealed in the refrigerator’s crisper drawer.

5. Separate different types of produce as much as you can. Store your fruits and veggies separately.

6. Don’t fill the produce bags too much, overcrowding speeds up the ripening process. And don’t place ripe produce next to unripe.

7. Don’t wash fruits until you are going to use them.

8. Store your grapes, strawberries, blueberries (and all other fruit) in a plastic bag. Berries only last a few day in the refrigerator.

9. Freeze produce that may take longer to use.

10. Rotate produce to avoid bruising.

11. Unless you are eating it all right away (or fairly soon) buy some produce ripe and some less than ripe, this way it is not all ready at the same time. Buy some green bananas and some yellow.

12. Peppers may last longer (5-7 days) when you remove them from bags.

13. Only buy produce that is not bruised or damaged (unless its super marked down and you are using it right away)

14. Only buy what you can use- a great deal is no great deal if most of your produce ends up in the trash.

15. If you have limp carrots, celery or lettuce you can savage them by soaking them in cold water in the sink until they regain some crispness (I often cut off the bottom of the lettuce so it can soak up more water)

2011-03-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

It is amazing what some paint, stain and sanding can do for an ugly dresser...they can make it beautiful. And a coat of paint on a wall...Wow! But the cleanup is a pain.

What is the worst and most hard place to paint? Behind the toilet.

I also knew there was gunky stuff that lives in the drains, but when you take apart the drain in the bathroom...ewww!!! How does hair, soap, water, toothpaste and spit turn into something black and slimy? Truly amazing.

Neon Trees

2011-03-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

Great songs to exercise to and also to clean the house.

Plus they sound great accoustic and make this song sound great...and they are old enough to sing about girlfriends and breakups.

Winter is going on too long. It keeps getting cold and then snowing and then we get a hint of warmth at 30 degrees (sweater weather in MN) and then back to cold and snow. Spring!!!! Where art thou????

Elders are leaving

2011-02-15T19:00:00.000-08:00

Elder Price is on his way home to Idaho tomorrow. It was sad to say goodbye. He is like one of the family. One of my children...who makes me laugh and also makes me want to strangle him. Elder Waite is heading up to Thunder Bay in Canada. We will miss him also. We have enjoyed having both of them in our home. He is not excited to leave here because he hears there are a lot of drunken Native Americans there.

Elders Waite and Simpson got back from "creepy Watertown. We were by the cemetery and Elder Simpson would not even get out to 'back me up.' It was really dark and there was a dead deer by the side of the road and its eyes were glowing, a cat that looked like a lion and a dog. We were driving in circles downtown." Oh the life of a missionary.

So we have Elder Simpson and will get a brand new greenie. I wonder what we will do to creep him out...I mean, greet him.

The snow is starting to melt because it is in the 40s during the day. HOT.

I have had a small form of bronchitis. NOT FUN.

Volunteering is NOT about getting paid

2011-01-27T16:38:00.000-08:00

Volunteering and doing service is NOT about getting paid. Getting paid with money or food is nice, but not necessary. So I just have to send out a big raspberry to all those people who will not join a PTO or volunteer at a book fair during the day because it is not a PTO function. It is the service itself that matters. Helping someone else and brightening their day will help you brighten yours.

So to all those Parkside Elementary School parents in Murray, Utah....Wow! You are great. You volunteer. You do service at the school for all the kids. Helping at Parkside makes Parkside a better school. I just wish some parents in Waconia, MN would get that.

Did I volunteer? Yes and I am going back again tomorrow. Toot Toot. Okay, so tooting my own horn is not humble. I try not to do it all the time. But if it get someone feeling guilty about not helping out then I will toot away.

I need to call my mother. I am not being a good daughter.

Pictures from the past

2011-01-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

This is Brannon and Dara last winter in our back yard.

Brannon, King of the Pink Nipple People, on a camp with the young men, 2010

Brannon being mean to his sister, I mean, playing nicely at our friend's pool.

Brannon - winter, 2009

Christmas Tree at the Amott's 2010

Dara as Athena, Halloween 2010. Kelly and Dara made the helmet and shield.

Dara at the Relay for Life, 2010

Dara, Summer 2010

Dara wearing our Christmas tree skirt, 2010

Dara in pool ignoring her brother who is teasing her.

Dara, Summer 2010

Brannon. the Mighty Hunter. Love the pink boots.

Kelly and Dara at Relay for Life, 2010

Kelly and Dara, Best Friends, Winter, 2009

Lisa is thinking about nudging Dara's behind into the pond. It would have been something Lisa might have regretted doing...but not for long.

Lisa, Brannon and Dara at our cute cabin we rented, Summer 2010

My new favorite website....some, okay, alot of swearing. Be aware.

2011-01-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

Wow....and not in a good way

2011-01-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

So...Anonymous left a post on my last blog. I really liked this part (and I am typing this snarky): "And that's why you are continually reincarnated. Welcome to the Matrix."

So...is this "Matrix" the movie, the hair care products, plural matrices, or less commonly matrixes, IT services, real estate, fitness, a car, or an anti-terrorist surveillance system?

I think I want to come back as a squirrel named Steve. Or an egret. Or a cute little monkey. No!! A cat. I will come back as a cat and sleep most of the day and play with toys and capture imaginary creatures and throw up on the floor and get lots of love.

I love this from the Borowitz Report:

Fox News Warns That Without Angry Rhetoric It Will Have 24 Hours to Fill Would Create ‘Giant Hole’ in Program Schedule

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – Calls for a reduction in violent political rhetoric have plunged the Fox News Channel into chaos, with a Fox spokesperson warning today that such a move “would leave us with 24 hours to fill.”

“Let’s not underestimate the giant hole this would create,” said spokesperson Carol Foyler. “Fox without violent rhetoric would be like The Weather Channel without maps.”

Ms. Foyler said Fox was preparing for a “worst-case scenario” in which it was pressured to air responsible statements in place of its current programming: “If it comes to that, God forbid, we’ll just air 24 hours of ‘24’.”

In contrast with Ms. Foyler’s alarmed comments, Fox host Glenn Beck took the news of a possible programming change in stride: “If I’m kicked off the air, I’ll return to my first love: standing in the back of crowded theaters and yelling, ‘Fire.’”

But Fox commentator Sarah Palin was less enthusiastic about the new call for tempered rhetoric: “For the first time in my life I don’t have anything to write on my hand.”

In other cable news developments, CNN confirmed that it was considering dropping Kathleen Parker from its “Parker Spitzer” program, but said it had balked at Elliot Spitzer’s suggestion of “a different woman every night."

I want...

2010-12-31T15:59:00.000-08:00

Blaaaach Agggfggaufdiahjfdksajfklafdhaskfdkjalkdssf!!!!

Happy New Year.
I just got used to writing 2010.
I am ready for spring.
I want to be debt free.
I want my brother-in-law to find a job that he likes.
I want getting on airplanes to be easier than being fondled or x-rayed.
I want the cleaning fairy to come to my house every day.
I want laundry to learn to clean itself, fold itself and put itself away.
I want to be a bit taller.
I want to continue to not care about Lindsey Lohan or anybody named Kardashian.
I want to be less snarky.
I want my children to grow up happy.
I want my children to know they are smart and to not care about what anyone (who doesn't matter) thinks of them.
I want my husband to know that he is the best for me.
I want my friends to find moments of happiness and peace every day.
I want to find moments of happiness and peace every day.
I want to knit more.
I want to finish my knitted projects and I want them to fit.
I want to continue to weigh between 135 and 137 pounds (or less) for...forever.
I want to weigh this or less without major exercise or dieting.
I want health insurance to cost less.
I want people to get along.
I want to continue to like my children and my husband. I will always love them. Liking them is harder.
I want my children and husband to like me.
I want people who hurt children to be squished like a blueberry and to be put in tiny little test tubes and then thrown out to sea.
I want to understand some things more, other things less and most things just right.
I want my husband to be appreciated at work.
I want pro sport players, CEOs, CFOs, and anyone making too much money for their own good to be put in a middle income bracket for 20 years to see if they can live within "normal" means.
I want teachers to get paid what pro sports players get paid.
I want mean people who say mean things to be put in mean jail.
I want 2011 to be happy, peaceful, wonderful, powerful, strengthening, knowledgeable, and freeing.

Weird and unusual...just like me

2010-12-28T16:11:00.000-08:00

http://acidcow.com/pics/4553-dead-flies-art-15-pics.html

Christmas Eve was spent with good friends who are orphans in MN like us.
Christmas morning was spent with my wonderful family and two great elders opening presents and eating. The kids, Kelly and the elders played with the new XBox and I took a nap. Wonderful.

There may be a reprieve from all the snow. It is called rain. What? Yes, rain. I don't know. I just live here.

To appreciate what I have

2010-12-09T14:45:00.000-08:00

Back Fat Is In This Season

2010-12-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

I hate throwing up and having a stomach bug. However....I do like losing 4 pounds and weighing 136 lbs!!! I have not weighed 136 for over three years. I could only barely make it to 140. I am eating less and exercising more and it is now the holiday season and we shall see what happens.

Back fat is in this season!!

Cold & Diamondy

2010-12-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

The air is incredibly cold, but at night the snow looks all diamondy* and beautiful. (*not a really word in the dictionary--but it works)

Thanksgiving went well. We had 20 people in our house and the food was INCREDIBLE! We ate, talked, played Tripoly and Dara won. This was her second year playing. There are wonderful people who grace our lives.

Ice Storm Shenanigans

2010-11-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

Saturday Night. We drive back from Stake Conference. Everything fine. Half hour later...ice storm! Actually a very fine mist and below freezing temperatures caused ice to form everywhere. We watched lots of cars on our little street go out of control and one of them ran into the power box that is across the street from our house. The two couples stayed at our house for about three hours. Another car ALMOST SLID INTO THE LAKE!! CRAZY!!!!! Here are our missionaries being boys and having fun.

Elder Price and the weirdest song I have ever heard

2010-11-23T15:11:00.000-08:00

Elder Price and the Toilet Paper Song

2010-11-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

Doug not pooping

2010-11-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

New Ulm, Herman, Doug and weirdness

2010-11-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

These are some of my Women of Today in New Ulm. This was one of the stops we made on our way to Tyler, MN for our retreat. New Ulm was very fun. This little German shop reminded me of my neighbor, Carolina Schindler. She was a cute, feisty German who mowed her own lawn when she was in her 80's. I also found Kelly's favorite Christmas candy there. I was going to wait until Christmas, but I was just too excited.

I could not figure out how to turn the picture. This is Herman the German. He lives in New Ulm.

New Ulm, MN

This is Doug. He loves spending time with the missionaries. They have a sign on their door "The Man Cave." Doug is the king of the Man Cave. He has really grown and still likes us even though he doesn't have any balls left.

One of Kelly's pumpkins. We are so proud.

One of my garden sculptures.

Doug...again.

Doug loves the guitar

Doug loves Elder Price. Doug is actually sleeping, although he doesn't look very comfortable.

Sunset and Butterflies

2010-11-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

This is a sunset I captured one evening. The sunsets last a lot longer where there are no mountains.

These pictures are of two monarch butterflies that were given to us to watch "do their thing." They were very fun and cool. Psychedelic!

Reflections of Christ

2010-11-12T13:18:00.001-08:00

2010-11-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

We picked out our Christmas tree on Saturday. It was such a beautiful sunny day.

Our church ward was divided. We are now a small ward again. I hope that God does not have any plans for me in the RS or Primary presidencies or...the horror!!! the Cub Scouts!!!! (Screams of pain and indescribable demonic children all in blue scout shirts, running around like...well, demons.)

It will be strange to not see friends each Sunday.

PMS & Peri-menopause

2010-10-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

So what happens when I have PMS AND Peri-Menopause all in one day? Crying...for no reason. Crying in front of a perfect stranger who happens to be a sheriff's deputy giving you a ticket for speeding. Then when he asks if you are okay, I start laughing AND crying. He starts to think there is something really wrong and arrests me. No!!! Not really. But he did think I was crazy. I suppose I am.

These dwarves are my new best friends.

2010-10-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

I think I am in a funk because I am missing family and friends in Utah. After seeing so much of family and friends this summer for fun and a funeral...I need more. Actually, I think I need my mom. Weird. I know I should just call her. Okay, I will. Stop nagging me.

Weekends

2010-10-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

A month ago I was in Utah for my grandmother's funeral. Then the 24th and 25th of September I was in Brooklyn Park, MN. It was a Women of Today State Convention. I had to go because I was on the committee. I was on the committee because...I am not sure why. I think I got suckered into it. It was a nice convention. I think the problem is that I have been to 4 convention is the two years I have been in Women of Today. I also don't like paperwork. One of my classes was all about the wonderful paperwork that can be done.

Then October 1, 2, 3 I was with my own chapter of Women of Today in wonderful Tyler, MN.

One of our members grew up in Tyler and we stayed in the Danebod Folk School. It was relaxing...until Shelly grabbed my leg from under the bed...and fun and wonderful and we ate and laughed until our sides hurt.

We also went "shopping" at the Rummage Sale- from 1-3 Everything Free. Free crappy stuff!!! Yeah!!! Especially when one of our party was back at the school getting a massage. She got lots of crappy stuff as gifts from us.

The kids are doing great in school. Dara is a smarty pants. She must take after her dad. Brannon is doing so much better this year. Yeah Ritalin!!!

This is a song that Elder Price wrote and sang with one of his companions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMrwxB68C1I

2010-09-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

I've just been feeling contemplative lately. Stoopid "anniversaries" come up every year and, although the pain, anger and bitterness lessens each year, the yuckiness of those feelings is still there. Maybe a frontal lobotomy would help.

Otherwise, life is going well. The weather is beautiful. We were not affected by the flooding, thank goodness. One of the weird stories about the flooding is that as the water has been receeding, people are finding really big fish in the streets.

Funeral

2010-09-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

My Grandmother's funeral was wonderful. So many people said nice things about Ruth. It was really great to hear that she was nice to other people. Even her Branch President spoke and cried. None of the family who spoke cried.

It was also good to see family that I haven't seen for years. Cousins who are getting older just like me... but they still look great...just like me.

Seeing friends was also important on this trip. And I saw some great ones.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and I don't like it. I guess I like to do things on my terms. But this weekend will end and it will be a great Women of Today Convention (that I got wrangled into helping with and really don't want to go to because I really don't like conventions and I have already been to three and that is just enough for me and I will never have to go to another one ever again.)

Grandma Magleby

2010-09-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

RUTH MAGLEBY
Ruth Ross Magleby 1921 ~ 2010 Ruth passed away September 10, 2010, in Salt Lake City, Utah.She was born January 7, 1921, in Salt Lake City to Milton Hurlock Ross and Harriett Sophia Wightman Ross. Married Arlo (Jim) Maiben Magleby April 16, 1942, in the Salt Lake LDS temple. Raised their family in the East Millcreek area. Ruth loved to read, travel and china paint. She sang with the Shubert singers, met regularly with friends who called themselves "The Sewing Club" and went to Sao Paulo, Brazil, with her husband to help build the temple in 1977. Worked as a legal secretary for many years. Served a mission to the Washington DC temple after the death of her husband. Survived by children: Susan Schow (Nile), Wayne Ross Magleby (Eloise) and Mark Ross Magleby (Colleen); 19 grandchildren; 22 great grandchildren. Preceded in death by husband, son James and granddaughter Nicole. Our family is very grateful to the Wellington Care Facility staff and to Dr. Potter. Funeral to be held Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 2 p.m., at the Larkin Sunset Gardens chapel, 1950 E. 10600 S., Sandy, Utah, with visitation to begin at 1 p.m. Interment at Larkin Sunset Gardens cemetery.

She should have been happy with her life, but she wasn't. She was depressed and manipulative and mean. I do have good memories of her: dancing like Elvis, walking through the Petrified Forest with Grandma limping for a least 1/4 of a mile and finding out she had a very long cactus thorn poking into her shoe and foot, her stew was really good, she always had icecream in her freezer when I was kid, having to watch The Lawrence Welk show before we could watch Donny & Marie.

Then there are the bad (yet funny now) memories. "Your father thinks I'm crazy" is how she would start arguments with me when Kelly and I lived with her and I was pregnant with Brannon. She was not nice to my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Eloise. Not nice is a nice way of putting how she treated them...especially Eloise. She was not nice to my mother. But my aunt and my mom were always patient and kind to her. Rest well, Grandma. Bless your heart.

Dara's Birthday

2010-09-05T20:51:00.001-07:00

Today Dara is 11 years old. It is hard to believe that she is so grown up and going in to 5th grade. School starts on Tuesday and she is very excited. She will be at the middle school. No more babies in elementary school.

Dara is so smart and beautiful. She is kind and funny. She cannot keep her room clean. She is one of the most polite and helpful children I have ever met. She is almost as tall as me.

Happy Birthday my dear Dara.

I am peeved because someone took the Nursery bubble machine and the big container of bubbles into another room and used ALL of the bubbles and ran the machine for so long the batteries are almost pooped out. Very rude. Stay out of MY nursery cabinet, you... you...rude little bubble stealers. Those are MY nursery kids' toys, snacks and bubbles. Don't touch what isn't yours. And if you do touch things, PUT THEM BACK!!!

Okay, I feel a bit better.

Except I have a 15 year old that is for sale.

My Mormon Ad

2010-08-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

I am a mother of two children. One husband. I volunteer a lot. I knit. I enjoy some shows on TV. None of them Reality TV. I am not Republican. I sometimes yell at my kids. I like to drink iced tea. I have friends of all religion, color and sexual persuasion. I am a Mormon.

Thomas Lucy of St. Paul said it best:

"As a self-proclaimed liberal, I was ecstatic as I began to read the coverage of the rally. Finally, Beck and I agree on something! Reportedly, he said the American has "turned back to God." I couldn't agree more. I mean we are finally moving toward making sure all of God's children receive health care, we are beginning to work on healing the planet God gave us and we are moving toward accepting all of God's children regardless of sexual orientation.

Wait, that isn't what Beck was talking about? My mistake. I guess we don't agree yet."

I also enjoyed this article WWGOPD? Especially the last line of the article, "Nothing will get done--unless they have a secret, workable plan they'll reveal after the election."

Summer is Ending

2010-08-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Dara and I went to the Como Zoo with two friends of ours. One is Dara's 4th grade teacher. It is really fun that she has become such a good friend.

The Como Zoo is free. It is small, but nice. You make a donation when you leave. They also have a conservatory that is full of beautiful plants. It is very peaceful. The zoo, not so peaceful. I think every daycare provider had their kids out. Kids with all the same colored shirts. There was a shirt that I did like on a girl. It read, "I'm not short. I'm fun-sized."

Two more days until the Corn Feed Festival. This is a Church party. Because of tradition it is called the Corn Feed. I added Festival because...well, because I can. So I get to pick up buns, bbq pulled pork and corn on the cob for 300 plus people. And I get to set it up. But I will have help. I always need help and seem to get it. We are also going to try to have families and individuals do their own version of the Mormon.org ads. I am not sure what I am going to do. Maybe sing "I'm A Mormom," or something equally repulsive.

Relay for Life Because we care....because we love...because we believe.

2010-08-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

The idea was hatched. The committees made. Meetings held. A Relay for Life planned for over 10 months. August 20-21 it happened. It was beautiful, amazing and fun.

Jenn Bostic, a beautiful young woman from Waconia who is making a name for herself in Nashville, sang. The two most beautiful songs she sang were "I Believe In You" and "Jealous of the Angels." Very touching. She sang this during the Luminaria Ceremony when the pictures were shown of people who have cancer, survived cancer and passed away from cancer. It fit perfectly.

A young 7 year old from Texas sang and was also amazing. Her name is Rhema Marvanne. Cute little thing with a voice that is amazing.

We had over 60 teams. Over 600 participants. More people signed up that night. People came over just for the party. We had bands playing, food served, and people walking all night. The Luminaria Ceremony was so touching and heartfelt. The luminaria bags were so beautiful lit around the path.

Seeing the survivors and the caregivers made my heart fill. I think we are all caregivers and this Relay for Life was our way of giving...at least for 12 hours.

My Waconia Area Women of Today are some of the best people I know. Smart, beautiful, talented, driven and funny.

Because we care....because we love...because we believe.

Thank you Waconia for coming out and sharing in this event. I hope more people volunteer next year and more people come to Relay and find out why there are Relays for Life. It is a beautiful thing.

I could not even move yesterday morning at 10:00. I slept most of the day. Tired, no, exhausted, aching, but so happy. We raised over $107,000.00!!! Our first Relay and we did this amount?!!!! What a community!

2010-08-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

The doorknob on the inside of our bathroom door came off...with Dara inside. Locked inside. There are three different sizes of ladders outside our house by the bathroom window. I did not have to crawl in. But I did break the screen. As I was getting ready to finally climb in, Dara pulled really hard on the knob (she had attached it by then) and the door came open. This was funny and not funny.

And why is this guy sitting here?

Humidity...

2010-08-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

There is snarky humidity in the air. It reaches out and touches me and makes my skin all sticky and wet. It makes snarky comments against my hair and my face and my back and my body reacts by sweating...alot.

The Carver County Fair is in session. It is like seeing "The People of Walmart" blog in real life. See...snarky humidity.

Dara went to the fair today. Deep fried oreos, etc. Anything you can think of to deep fry and more. Dara saw a pygmi goat that looked like a "goat-cow." ? What? And big pigs.

Brannon is 15 years old as of yesterday. So, if I got married when I was almost 22 and I have a 15 year old that would make me 37. Actually I like being 43. But those 15 years have gone by really fast. Too fast. But I am guessing my mom is saying that the last 43 years have gone by too fast for her.

And there is still laundry to do.

Another Miss Muffins

2010-08-05T18:31:00.001-07:00

The cat that came with our house, Miss Muffins, had kittens and those kittens were all captured except for one. This one looks like it is giving you the stink eye. Something is weird with her eyes. Well, I was hoping this cat was a boy, but apparently not, since she has one kitten with her in my yard playing. This kitten looks exactly like Miss Muffins...orange and white. It looks to be about 3-4 months old. The mother caught a mouse this morning and was carrying it across the street to their home in the dirt and tunnels under the trees behind the apartment building across the street.

We are still enjoying Doug. Little is still having trouble learning to play with Doug, but she secretly likes him.

Doug's personality is a reincarnation of Big's personality. Jumping on the bathroom sink to make sure you are brushing your teeth properly, putting in or taking our your contacts, making sure you flush the toilet in the right manner, etc. Just like Big.

Cranberries

2010-08-02T11:26:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend, I went with a couple of church ladies to Wisconsin. We got a tour of a cranberry farm. I will never take cranberries for granted ever again. It was really cool. This part of Wisconsin was beautiful.

One of our butterflies has come out of the chyrsalis. It is really beautiful. Pictures will follow (someday).

I read an interesting, funny book called The New York Mormon Singles Halloween Dance. What a funny girl Elna Baker is. It just confirmed my belief that if I am ever single (God forbid), I do not want to be out in the dating world. I could be really snarky and say all those things that we have heard and/or experienced in the Single's Wards, but I won't...because I really can't do them justice.

My face is hurting. I had two fillings fixed this morning. How come the shots to numb the mouth seem to take so long to give? Now my mouth is a bit tingley and hurtey. Love pain killers. This is EXACTLY how I feel. Brannon and his friend were laughing at the way I was talking when I got back. I have not yet tried to drink anything yet.

June and July

2010-07-26T10:48:00.001-07:00

We went to the cabin in Idaho during June. It was two days worth of driving through South Dakota and Colorado and Idaho. We saw an eagle chasing an osprey who had a fish in its talons. Eventually the osprey dropped the fish and the eagle picked it up. The eagle was eating the fish in a tree across from the river and the osprey kept diving at the eagle, but to no avail. No fish for the osprey. They both flew over Dara and I about 10 feet above our heads. It was very nature show-ish. We also had snow!!!

We then drove the long 4 hours to Salt Lake and spent the weekend with Grandma Amott. We visited with a few people. Being in SL for really only two days is hard when you want to see so many people.

Julie, Spencer and the Kids came to visit us the first week in July. It was great having a full house. It is a really good thing we still have our swingset. Sam loves to "wing wing peese." We went to the Lake Waconia Swim Beach, the MN Arboretum, and they also went to the Mall of America. Who can resist a HUGE mall that has an amusement park in it?

Spencer took Kelly, Julie and I to a Crossfit Training class. It was amazing! I did not hurt at all after the class and running that mile first...so invigorating. (I am lying and being very sarcastic). Actually, Julie and I ran down two blocks, walked a bit to the third block, turned around, walked until we saw our husbands running and then we started running back to the class. I AM NOT A RUNNER!!! I really thought the class would be full of weirdos, but they all looked and seemed pretty normal...just like Spencer. But what is Spencer-normal? That should be a new word in the dictionary.

When the Petersens left, the house was too quiet and lonely. Doug, our new kitten, also missed the Kids. They kept him running all week. Wore him right out. After they left, Doug wandered the house looking for them. I think he still misses them.

We got Doug from a friend of mine. I told Dara we couldn't get him until she learned to hold him. She has been scared to hold cats since she was little and Victor scratched her. But she learned and he purred and fell asleep in her arms. Then we had Kelly meet him and brought him home. His personality is a lot like Big's. He likes to be with people and he is a snuggler. Anytime a door is shut, he has to come see why.

He is also a dare devil like Big. Every once in a while I would catch Big walking the banister...and this is how we caught Doug.

A town a couple of miles away from us had a tornado and the storm was coming our way. But, alas, we only got really cool clouds and some rain. When the tornado alarms go off in town, we are SUPPOSED to go in the basement. But NO. We all go out on our porches and decks to watch the storms come in. We are a curious people.

This is Dara taking a picture of the storm with her new cell phone. She was so excited when it came that she was shaking. It is nice to be able to have her call when she is at a friend's house and on her way home.

This is our house during the coming of the storm. That bright green squatty-body is me, taking care of my plants - just in case there is hail.

Each year the Swallows come back. It is great. They built their nests under our eaves and lay their eggs. The babies are so ugly they are cute and they grow very fast. These are just above our deck door and I would talk to the mother and to the babies.

This is the mother feeding the babies. Not a great picture, but they are fast little creatures.

We got some monarch caterpillars from a friend of mine. They turned into the chrysalis' in front of our eyes!! Nature is AMAZING!!

This is a chrysalis that is attached to one of my flower boxes. I don't know what kind of butterfly it will be. But the chrysalis has silver, blue and gold on it.

Don't we all know someone like this?

2010-06-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Just a thought for those of us who have now or have had a crazy person in our lives.

Darth Vader

I love living in a small town. I called in some prescriptions to be refilled and when I went to the pharmacy, one of the pharmacists looked at me and said, "Two for Amott?" That is service.

Last week we saw a Mormon at Costco. I know this does not seem strange to a lot of you, however, we live in Minnesota. Costco is NOT the hangout, besides church, for Mormons. We kept seeing this mom with her two kids around the store and then we were buying pizza and she was feeding her kids hot dogs. Kelly and I started talking about our budget. I noticed the garment line through her shirt and saw the garment sleeve thing...you know, where the sleeves are a little bunched up at the shirt's shoulder? I leaned over and asked if she was Mormon. She laughed and said she wanted to ask us the same thing because we looked so different from the other people in Costco. "You are just a happy family with a look about you." Little does she know how strange we are. We found out we are in the same Stake.

Apparently, tattoos are really in for older women. Lots of them in MN have ankle, foot, calf and arm tattoos. I think I am okay with my birthmark as the only think I have on my arm.

I saw this picture and think it is a beautiful, yet sad remembrance.

From the article: A haunting 150-year-old photo found in a North Carolina attic shows a young black child named John, barefoot and wearing ragged clothes, perched on a barrel next to another unidentified young boy.

Art historians believe it's an extremely rare Civil War-era photograph of children who were either slaves at the time or recently emancipated.

The photo, which may have been taken in the early 1860s, was a testament to a dark part of American history, said Will Stapp, a photographic historian and founding curator of the National Portrait Gallery's photographs department at the Smithsonian Institution.

"It's a very difficult and poignant piece of American history," he said. "What you are looking at when you look at this photo are two boys who were victims of that history."

In April, the photo was found at a moving sale in Charlotte, accompanied by a document detailing the sale of John for $1,150, not a small sum in 1854.

Birds and Hockey

2010-06-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I watched a mother bird with two babies on our front lawn. The mother was picking out worms from the grass and feeding them to her babies. When the babies felt ignored they would jump into their mom's side. Just like the saying goes, "Being a mom is like being pecked to death by baby ducks." It was very cute and all naturey.

Sometimes the memories we have of our childhood seem bigger, better, stranger and more crazy than what our kids' childhood is today. Case in point, hockey today seems much more mild than it did when I was kid.

The other night Brannon and I watched a show about the Philly Flyers Hockey team. This was their story in the 1970s. They don't wear helmets!!! They don't wear mouth guards!!! They are fighting every other second of the game. The fights were explosive. Because of the Flyers, the rule book for hockey got much bigger. So it really is not my imagination that hockey was crazy back in the 70's and my parents took me to see it. I would ask my mom and dad when the players were going to throw off their gloves and I would yell "blood on the ice." What a great childhood.

What have I seen????

2010-05-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

I kept hearing that the second movie was so much better than the first.

I had the lowest expectations when I saw the first movie...and it was actually okay. But low expectations make things better.

Friends kept telling me the second is better than the first. So...I saw the second movie. I did not have low expectations. Stoopid me. I still don't get it.

I feel duped.

2010-05-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Minnesota, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/minneapoliswcco-15750988/woman-gives-birth-while-behind-the-wheel-20000300

Why???

2010-05-24T13:21:00.001-07:00

Why are there angry, dysfunctional children under the age of 10? What horrible things are going on in their lives to make them angry? I know that some kids are just born with anger issues. I am not talking about them or their parents. I am talking about parents who really should have taken a test before becoming parents. Why are their parents allowed to be parents? So sad....

It is in the 90s here and VERY humid. It feels like the Amazon Building at the Zoo. Sticky, with sweat dripping down the back, rolling into the crack of the buttocks. Very lovely and exciting feeling.

Guess who has been taking too many Happy Meds...

2010-05-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

2010-05-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

I love to see the Snowy Egrets in the ponds around Waconia. They bring me joy.

Male PMS

2010-05-10T19:32:00.001-07:00

It is hard enough for me to attempt to be normal with my PMS and Peri-Menapause going on. Love the hot flashes with just one area of my body getting sweaty. Or when my face just heats up and get a glistening of sweat. "I feel pretty." But it is really hard to face when my son and husband are having PMS. What is with this? GAHHHH!!

Love them. Love them. Love them. (keep repeating)

Actually, I do love them. Liking them is another story. I wonder if they feel the same way about me sometimes. Probably. Okay, definitely.

Judgmental

2010-05-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

I usually think of myself as a fairly judgmental person. That is until I meet someone REALLY judgmental. I then want to become a non-judgmental person. Why is that?

Someone told me yesterday that he feels that the Obama Administration is doing Gadianton-like sneakiness. I calmly told him that I felt that the full 8 years of the Bush Administration were very Gadianton-like. What I have come to figure out in my mind is that politicians are a peculiar breed of person and I, calmly, need to figure out what I like and/or dislike about what is happening. Can I change the world? No. But if we all worked together with kindness and patience and respect we would change the world.

When I was asked if I like what Pres. Obama has done so far, I told him that I was glad that the Health Care Reform passed because I believe that all children should have access to health care. My friend told me that people have the choice as to whether they have health care or not. They just need to make more money and spend it on important things like health care. Hmmm...

I also met a crazy woman at church on Sunday. She is new in the area. My crazy detector was beeping like mad. She is very nice. She has lots of tattoos. This does not make her a bad person or a crazy person. It is the look in her eyes that is scary. She also prayed for a little boy in our church to get a new Nintendo game. It came from her heart. The friend I talked about above in this post was a lot more harsh about her than I ever wanted to be.

So, I am guessing that friend is judgmental about me and my ideas. That is okay. I will just try to be patient and keep my snarky comments about him to myself.

Bands I Like

2010-05-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

2010-04-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

We have three missionaries. But apparently, we will be down to two again. Two of our missionaires are really messy. I think one of them is leaving.

I am still in Nursery at church. I get really hot in there with children sitting on my lap. Lots of mini hot flashes. I have to say that it is okay being away from everyone, except there are all these new people moving in and I don't know them.

Plants are growing. I need to get some tulips planted in my yard for next year because I don't have any because I keep forgetting to plant them and the people who lived here before us did not plant lots of fun things. I want fun things in my yard.

School is almost over. Summer is almost here. Spring just began. My children are getting very grown.

I got a speeding ticket in Buffalo, MN. I do not really know where Buffalo is. I did not know I was speeding. Now I do.

Here come the missionaries...only Elder Howard. He is going up by Duluth, Elder Simpson is going to the Uptown Ward, and we are getting Elder Spencer who was just released from being THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT. Weird. Do we have to bow down to him? Should we get special toilet paper for their bathroom?

Plants

2010-04-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

I saved the milk jugs and then we used them to plant our seeds in. We hope that the flowers and vegetables we planted will be stronger because they germinated outside in the Minnesota Spring.

I moved them further out into the sun and rain. Grow your hearts out little seeds.

Things I love...

2010-04-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

I really love Downy Wrinkle Releaser. I hate to iron and this stuff is just grand. To make it last longer, I pour wrinkle releaser into another spray bottle and add water to it. It even works diluted.

I also love used dryer sheets for cleaning. I clean my sinks, toilets, windows, tubs, etc. I use new used ones each time...I don't clean my toilets with one and then clean my sinks with the same one.

I have also started using Vinegar and water in a spray bottle for cleaning. I am liking it. But sometimes I like the smell of the citrus or lavendar that the chemically cleaners have.

Dara has decided that she is going to shoot for a 4.0 throughout high school. I told her that I would be happy with even a 3.5 and she shouldn't freak out if she gets a B+ in a class.

Brannon apparently has decided that he is going to change his attitude and be nice and not yell and not whine. It has been 5 days...I am liking it. I hope this change stays.

2010-03-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

Life has been moving...hour by hour, day by day.

The kids and Kelly went to the Annual Breakfast on the Lake in February. They fished and ate and had a good time.

Spring is springing. It is still chilly, but the snow is gone.

Our cat, Big, was sick for a week and died on Monday, March 15. She was almost 9 years old. We will miss her terribly. Little still waits for Big to come up the steps to get her treats first. I miss her chatting with us and trying to eat dinner with us.

Good bye Big. You were a wonderful, annoying, happy little creature. We will miss saying "Big has a baby head."

2010-03-09T18:48:00.000-08:00

Okay. I am not normally looking at articles about famous people ESPECIALLY Miley Cyrus...however, this one comment made me laugh...and feel a little bad that she is so stoopid.

"I think we're both deeper than normal people -- what they think and how they feel," shares Miley. "He's very grateful for what he has, but he doesn't let it go to his head. I'm like that too."

WHAT!!??? We are deeper than normal people? What does she know of "normal people"? She is only 17 years old. I remember being 17 and falling in love...alot.

We like the new missionary. He is quieter and nicer and not so A.D.D.

A MN lawmaker wants to tax clothing. Gasp! Other Minnesotans are stating that changing the law to tax clothing would take away our unalienable right to have clothes. What? In Utah they have a tax on clothes AND food. Maybe if we all stopped whining the world would smell so much with our verbal gases.

The American Cancer Society - 2010 Relay For Life of Waconia:

2010-03-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

The American Cancer Society - 2010 Relay For Life of Waconia:

I am in one of the little pictures on this page. Just go and donate or start a team. Join our Relay!!!

More short thoughts

2010-03-03T15:23:00.001-08:00

High school is wasted on the young.

High schoolers think alot about sex.

Some high school girls have too much cleavage showing.

The F word is used in everyday conversation and seems to not really be used as a swear word anymore. I still think the F word is offensive.

High schoolers are too young to be having sex.

Why is drawing a penis on someone else's notebook a funny thing? A penis is not a work of art when drawn in jest. Anyway...

Some high schoolers are very nice and will chat with an old 42 year old sub.

High school has not really changed in 25 years...some bad hair, some bad skin, some bad attitudes, some nice people, some good teachers, some bullies, some kids who just want to fade into the wall and not be seen, the beautiful people, the people who think they are beautiful and popular but who are just really annoying, etc.

Short Thoughts

2010-02-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

Boring meetings that go extra long are extremely boring.

Having the Mission President come to my home to speak to our missionaries...weird. Getting rid of another missionary...enjoyable. Really. 6 months for one elder is really a very long time...especially when he could be slightly annoying.

My son's belly laugh is great.

My children's father is pretty weird.

I wish there was a house fairy who came in and cleaned up after I clean up after everyone else.

Nursery is actually kind of fun (typed in a whisper).

Naps are not over-rated.

I would love to win a million dollars.

Laughing is really a good thing.

2010-02-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

This is one of our Steves.

This is another Steve.

Warm

2010-02-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

It has been over 30 degrees for the past couple of days. Warmth!!! I think global climate change is really here. Snow in Texas, Georgia, Florida and other warm states!? That is just crazy and global and climatey and changey.

Tomorrow is the Relay for Life of Waconia's Book Sale. We are selling books for $1.00 each, along with baked goods, cds, videos, and dvds. I hope we get a good turnout from the community.

Brannon had a seizure last Saturday on a church member's driveway. It only lasted about 30 seconds and his eyes did not roll back in his head, but still...scary. The leaders that were with him, along with young men, handled it really well. I am angry at Brannon because I thought he was taking his medication every morning and night, but when I counted his pill....he has been missing doses. Stoopid!!

Last night we were playing games as a family. Brannon had his cards that he laid out of the table and said, "Read 'em and wheat." We have laughed about that one alot.

I have been substituting at the middle school this week. I have been with a non-verbal 5th grader. He is a slow pokey kid, so I have been trying to get him to run. And he can go...when I say "Ready, set, go." I think I will be saying that in my dreams tonight because I have said it so many times this week. It has really made me appreciate my children and their voices and their words.

Dara is become more drama-ish. PMS.... here we come! She is so smart and funny and sarcastic and amazing and not perfect. Which is great. A normal kid. She loves spelling and can spell 10th grade spelling bee words. Freaky.

Holy cow! I just realized that both our moms' birthdays are coming up on Feb. 24. They are 10 years apart, born on the same day. I think my mom is going to 45 and Kelly's mom is going to be 55. They are so young, as am I. That would make me about 23 years old. I have done alot in my 23 years. I do have a lot of laugh lines and fat is appearing in weird places that I never had to worry about before. "Back fat is in this season."

I am now in the nursery. I told the counselor who asked me that I would have to check with my parole officer. He just laughed. What is wrong with these people? Why do they think I like kids? Especially other people's kids? We just need to get a couch for the nursery. It was hard sitting on the floor with three kids on my lap and then one sleeping on me for an hour. OOOOOO...a really big beanbag chair or a hammock. Yeah, a hammock. That is not dangerous at all.

2010-02-10T07:13:00.001-08:00

The recorder is still here, but not played as much. The good singer and the bad singer were both transferred. The good singer is the one who burned the counter in their kitchen by lighting hand sanitizer on fire. He is so cute (typed VERY sarcastically).

Our water heater is on the capootz. Not a fun thing, but it will be fixed today.

Snow, snow and more snow. Where is Spring!!!???

2010-02-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

This is Dara.

This is Drama Queen Dara.

This is the awful sound we woke up to on Christmas morning. Elders from our basement.

2010-02-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

These are the shiny eyes of our cats hiding at the top of the stairs from the missionaries that live in our basement. Elder Chamema would chase Big around and try to catch her. One time he flew four feet through the air and landed on Big. This is why she hides when she hears them coming up the stairs or hears Elder Chamema's voice.

This is a tree in our front yard with frost hanging from the berries. It was just pretty. The next day the frost was gone.

Christmas morning. Elder Chamema (L) and Elder Parmley (R). Elder Parmley got those hats from someone who loves him.

Elder Parmley and his wonderful hat. I am thinking that last sentence with a snarky voice.

Snow, snow and more snow.

Big in her holiday attire. She slunk around the house, flat on the floor for a while.

Kelly made chili and Dara does not like tomatoes. It really is a piece of art the way she arranged the tomatoes on the plate.

Elder Chamema and Brannon. Elder Smith is behind Elder Chamema. Just one of the fun days of Christmas with three missionaries who were a bit out of control during the holiday season. I was premenstral and peri-menapausal. I wanted to squish them like blueberries.

Elder Chamema getting his hair cut. Kelly likes to rub his hair because it is so soft. But his hair gets EVERYWHERE when Kelly cuts it.

A really beautiful sunrise.

Dara dressed like this for Halloween. No! We are not beating her.

Cold and Like Batman

2010-01-29T06:51:00.000-08:00

The weather needs to be done being cold. It is sunny today. That is misleading. It is still 0 degrees. It is really lovely when there is a breeze. The cold goes right through your clothes, your skin, muscles and bones. I think I have the disease WAD. Weather Adjusting Disease. WAD...when you want to kick the cold out of your life. WAD...when you start to really want a Slanket.

My children were not lovely this morning. There were laser beams shooting out of their eyes at me. Scary.

I was told by a boy at the middle school, when he was mad a me for following him out of class (that is my job), that I am "like Batman. Always there and silent." I need to make up business cards with that slogan on them.

This is what talking to my son is sometimes like:

2010-01-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

We got rid of one of our missionaries!!! Yeah!!!! Happy Dance!!!!! Woo Hoo!

Maybe the boy drama will not be so drama-ish.

2010-01-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

It is slushy and frozen.

Dara's school had a Barn Dance last night. My friend Jill and I were in charge of the selling of the goods. Hats, bandanas, bendable farm creatures and the most popular item, Billy Bob Teeth. So gross and yet...so fascinating.

Glee

2010-01-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

What a great show! I started watching just to see what it was about. I really had not heard anything about the show and now....I am hooked.

It was 12 degrees this morning. It felt really good. And it is supposed to get warmer this week. Woo Hoo!!!

Kelly is flying to Florida today for work, but they are staying an extra day to sight see. I am holding down the fort.