Diseased

Wow, I am so not well this morning.

Yesterday morning I started coughing. This dry, raking cough that, frankly, was no fun. And kind of hurt. But the rest of me felt fine. So I continued on about my day.

Then Clark came home at around 3. I was feeling considerably worse by then, and I think all the coughing had pulled a muscle or something, because my chest really hurt. Not where my lungs are, not deep, just on the surface, right at the top of my ribcage. I put a heating pad on it and took some ibuprofen in hopes that it would feel better. It did indeed. But shortly thereafter, I felt really really hot, so I took my temperature (good thing we have a thermometer!). 101.57. Whoa! that is not normal. So I decided to lie down, maybe take a nap if I could. At one point last night I was putting a cold washcloth on my face because I was just so hot. And Clark made me drink lots of juice, which was good. I went to bed last night with considerably less fever, feeling better. I thought to myself, maybe a good night's rest will help everything.

I woke up this morning at 6am feeling really really hot again. I often feel hot in the mornings, but usually that is because Clark is right there, emitting heat waves. But he left for work at 4 this morning. So it was just me, sweating like a pig. Took the temperature: 100.79. Well no wonder I was so hot! I guess I won't be going walking today.

I'm such a whiner, I just had to share the woes. But you know, at least I can still work, since I work from home. Most people wouldn't think that was a good thing, but it's good to not miss out on money, and to not worry about infecting others. OK, time for more OJ.

Sewing

A while back the Young Women's President came into Relief Society to make an announcement: the Young Women are going on a Pioneer Trek, and as such, they need to make some skirts, bonnets, aprons, and bloomers. In fact, they want to make it a project for their personal progress. The only problem is no one in the Young Women's program sews. Nobody. Not a single leader. So they asked for volunteers. Since I am going on the trek as well, I signed up. I'm not the best seamstress, but I have a machine, and I'd be willing to help. This was sometime in January that they made this announcement. Mid-February, they mentioned that it would be the last Tuesdays in February and March. That is all they have said on the subject. When I signed up, I put my name and phone number down. I happen to know that my friend Danielle signed up as well. But no one has called me. Today is the last Tuesday in February. These are short sentences. But the fact is, I have no idea what time this activity is taking place, or where it is taking place, and neither does Danielle. They seemed so desperate for help, begging people to sign up, and yet they can't seem to call and let people know where and when it is? It would have been nice to have a reminder on the day as well, I'm sure people have forgotten. Anyway, the lesson we learn from this is: call people if you want their help and they've offered to give it to you. I'm going to try and call around this afternoon, but who knows if I'll get ahold of anyone.

Weekly Quote 2/26/07

"And then, a miracle occurred. Snow." Last week's quote was from "The King and I." A bit harder, I know. New quote up, and this week should be a bit easier.

Sunset

The other day I looked out our window to see the most beautiful sky. This was particularly noteworthy to me because it was a sunset, and the sky was indeed red and beautiful, but I was looking out of our window that faces east, not west. I took a picture to try and capture it, but it doesn't do it justice. So imagine this picture with much more vibrant colors. I just thought it was breathtaking.

Sweet Cuppin' Cakes

Yesterday was our first ever "Girls' Night Out" Activity Group meeting (that is the name of our Enrichment Activity Group, the random group where we just learn new things). We learned about cake decorating, which was actually pretty fun. I'll admit, I can barely frost a cake, let alone decorate it, but I felt that I learned some good tips, and I even practiced a bit on some cupcakes. I wouldn't mind having a couple of decorating tips of my own, just to do some basic decorating. Not that I'm good or anything, but it was still a fun thing, and there are some simple things that I think I could do on my own and would look nice. Here is a picture of my 3 cupcakes, I like the blue one the best, although the green spaghetti is rather fun:

High School Musical

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching "High School Musical." Now, I was fully prepared for all the cheesiness involved, for the over the top acting, for the bursting into song, I had been told all about it, and being thus prepared, I thought it was a good movie. Really, I actually liked it. I can see how other people (my husband in particular) wouldn't like it, but I actually did like it. It probably didn't hurt that they filmed it at my high school, so I had the bonus experience of knowing exactly what hall they were in at all times. Except for the "plant patio," I don't really know what that is all about. And I will say that they made the school look a lot nicer than I remember it looking, especially the auditorium. That place has some nasty seats, but they somehow just made it look nice. But really, I thought the show was cute, fun, and entertaining, even if it was a bit over the top. Very much a high school movie and a musical mixed together, which can both be good, but can also both be cheesy.

And during the filming was probably a record as to the number of black kids in that school at the same time.

And one more thing. One of the girls in the movie, I guess you could call her the "villain," could not straighten her legs while she was dancing for the life of her. And it drove me nuts! For another example of this, watch "White Christmas", that girl can't straighten her pencil thin legs either.

'Tis lovely in S--

I need to call upon the wisdom of my readers to answer a question I have had for years, but never really asked about. As you know, I am reading Jane Eyre again. It's an older book, a classic even, and the source of my puzzlement is generally found only in classic literature. Reading along, I came across this fragment: "away we rattled over the 'stony street' of L--" There isn't even a period to finish the sentence, I guess the dash nulls the period? But that isn't the main question, the main question is why do they only put in the dash at all? Do they not wish to name any cities? Does it make it so the book can take place where ever the reader's imagination desires? I asked Clark about it and he has also noticed it, and noticed that it only occurs with place names. I would love any input that you could provide.

Found!

Remember how last week I mentioned that we were missing a few items, such as books, flashlight, and silver pens? Well, we found them! We stopped by the Blockburger residence on Sunday, and while hanging out Clark went into his old bedroom and started looking in some drawers. Lo and behold, all of these books were there, along with a picture frame, his flashlight, his graduation pictures, and a few other things. When the Lowes came into town last summer we had to move all our hooey out of the guest room, and we got to a point where we were just shoving things in the drawers in Clark's old room for lack of a better place to put them. It was glorious, recovering all these lost items. My silver pens, however, have not turned up yet. I did purchase a new one, so we're covered in that department, but I miss the old ones. For all you silver pen owners out there, don't make the same mistake I did, guard those pens, treasure them, for you will miss them when they are gone.

The B's and the M's, together again

We made it home from Provo in one piece. Here are some fun pictures of the baby. A good time was had by all, even though we didn't do much. We got in the necessary Millar/Blockburger Mexican Train game, as well as some Fantan. And of course Clark and Brett got to play plenty of video games, as usual. And most importantly, the B's got to meet the little M! She's a very cute girl, and we are glad we got to spend some time with her.

Weekly Quote 2/19/07

Last week's quote, "He's a champion lip-reader," was from Dear Frankie, and excellent movie, particularly if you like Scottish accents. New quote up!

The 'Vo

We are in Provo! It's an adventure! And Adie is adorable! I'm just sitting here, dinking around on Clark's laptop. Clark is playing the Millars' piano (but he has the headphones on, so he's not being loud), and the Millars are still in the back. I would say that they are asleep, but I'm not sure that is entirely true - you never know with a newborn. She is such a sweet little girl, so cuddly! And she has the darkest hair, it's very cute. I'm so glad we finally get to see her, and see the new parents as well. I'll have to get a picture up here soon. That's all I really have to say. Happy Presidents' Day Weekend!

Jane Eyre

Clark and I recently discovered that we really do have a lot of books on our shelves. Not as many as some, but still, a lot. After a closer look, we also realized that we have a fair number of books that neither one of us has ever read, as well as books that one of us has read but not the other. And so we decided that maybe our future readings should come from our own library. Granted, I might not read all of Clark's nerd books (you can only take so much), but some of them really do seem interesting. And so I began the process last night by choosing a book that I've already read. What?! But no, let me explain. I have decided to re-read Jane Eyre (I can't find the underline, so italics will have to do). The last time I read that book I was 15 or so. So it has been 10 years. And I really don't remember it all well. Plus, that book has a history in my relationship with Clark. One of the first real conversations we ever had was about Jane Eyre. Of course, I was arguing that it was a good book, and Clark was arguing that it was the most terrible book ever written, but still. It got us talking. And we were talking about it again last night, the same argument, when it came out that Clark has never actually read the book! So he doesn't even know! Here he is talking about how awful it is, how much he hates it, and he's never even read the whole thing! Blah blah blah, read the first 100 pages, saw a movie, read reviews, BALONEY, he has never read the book! So then I just had to pick it up and read it, so that I can once again be the proper authority on the book, you know, being the one in our family who has actually read it.

And while we're talking about books, we seem to be missing some. Every year for Valentine's Day I give Clark a cute little book, and we can't find any of them. I Like You, Consider Love, and The Dot and The Line are the ones that come to mind. So if you guys have found an odd stack of those books, let us know, maybe they are ours? And while we're on the subject, we are also missing silver pens and Clark's LED flashlight. Any help on locating the missing objects will be rewarded.

Valentine's Day

I'm a picture fiend these days. Here are the cute cards I made - I thought they turned out pretty good. Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your day is full of love and hearts!

Happy Birthday, Clarky!

Sunday was Clark's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARK! Now he is old like me. Above is the delicious Banana Cake with Quick Caramel Frosting - yum! I just thought we needed to remember that it was his birthday.

Snow Canyon

We went a hiking this weekend - WAHOO! It was such beautiful weather on Saturday, warm, some cloud cover, perfect for hiking. So we headed on up to Snow Canyon State Park and went on the Three Ponds Trail, though it was more like the Three Murky Small Puddles Trail. And on the way there, there was quite a bit of sand, deep sand. I felt like I was on the beach, minus the ocean. Sand is really hard to walk in, but it makes for a great workout! It was about 3.5 miles roundtrip, not so far, but just right for me. We've decided we want to train more in preparation for being Ma and Pa on our Pioneer Trek this summer, so this was the first of many hikes we'll have in the upcoming months. Here are some fun pictures:

Weekly Quote 2/12/07

"This is the part where you run away. . ." was indeed from Shrek. New quote up, and this one is a toughy.

White Pocket

I was asking Clark what he wanted to do for his birthday the other day, and I mentioned that it might be fun to go do a hike, since it's getting to be nice weather and all, and he likes the hiking. He agreed that this would be fun, and remembered seeing a cool hike in our monthly St George Today magazine. So we looked it up. It's called White Pocket and it's at Paria Plateau/Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. Once we looked at the directions on how to get there, we decided that we wouldn't do this hike. Here they are:

"Directions to White Pocket from Kanab, drive 40 miles east on Highway 89. Turn on House Rock Valley Road, which is located on the south side of the highway (on right side, driving from Kanab). It is located between mile markers 25 and 26, before a sweeping left-hand curve in the road, prior to the guardrail protecting the curve. Slow down and turn right, just before the guardrail. This north-south running road is House Rock Valley Road. Set your odometer, since the unmarked turn to the trailhead can be difficult to spot. The road soon changes to dirt and may be impassible if wet. Continue past the Wire Pass Trailhead (8.5 miles from Highway 89) to the Utah-Arizona state line. Keep driving south for another 8 miles past the Wire Pass Trailhead and look for the dirt road that turns left. It is unmarked, but it leads to Lone Tree Reservoir. A sign located .2 miles after turning will verify that you are on the correct road. Follow the main 4WD road east for 2.4 miles to the Paw Hole Trailhead. Beyond Paw Hole, the soft sand on the road gets deeper and quite rugged, requiring some to deflate their tires to prevent from getting stuck. The road is similar the next 3 miles to the windmill at Poverty Flat Ranch. The road passes through two gates, which you will need to close after passing through them. Once at the windmill, travel northeast, passing the windmill on the left as well as an old barn on the right. The sandy road now gets deep as it ascends a hill, heading toward a large water tank that rests on a knoll. Be sure to keep up momentum and follow this sandy road to the east and then north for 1.8 miles until it arrives at a corral and a fence. At this point the road will turn right and follow alongside a fence for a short time. It will then continue east for 2.8 miles before steering northeast for another 1.5 miles. The road ends in a deep sand area by a lone juniper tree. This is the parking area and trailhead."

And this is just to get to the trailhead! Definitely not something we are going to do. But if anyone is adventurous, let us know how it goes.

Crafty with the Paper

Last night I went to my first "Enrichment Activity" since being in this ward. It was Paper Craft night, and we got together and made Valentine's Day cards. I've gotta say, I was a bit wary of how things would turn out, not being a crafty woman myself. But in the end, I made some cute things. Of course, they only turned out cute because I looked at the examples and did pretty much the exact same thing, and even still, it took all my brain power to figure out what they did, but hey, if someone is willing to let me steal their creativity, I'm all for it. Maybe I'll take pictures of them and post them, because I really am quite proud of them. But that post will have to be for after Valentine's Day, because I am giving one of them to Clark, and I don't want him to see it before the big day.

As a side note, Clark's birthday is on Sunday. He's gonna be old like me. But having his birthday next to Valentine's Day makes me feel like I am giving him all sorts of cards. Ah well, it's not Christmas!

Babies, babies, everywhere!

My friend Karen had her baby on Friday (Groundhog Day!). So that makes it official: all 3 babies that we knew due on February 12 have already been born. But congrats to everyone, they are all very cute! Oh, Karen's daughter is named Sarah Esther Phippen.

Weekly Quote 2/5/07

Last week's quote, "They speak the international language. . . . love, the language of love," was indeed from Better Off Dead, one of the finest movies I have ever seen. I'm not too sure about the dancing hamburger scene, but the rest of it is classic.

New quote up!

Monte Cristo

Last night we were adventurous and had Monte Cristo Sandwiches for dinner. I had never made them before, and they were right tasty. I got the inspiration from watching Rachael Ray a while back. But she was absolutely crazy. Our sandwiches had some meat, some cheese, and some mustard and mayo. Tasty. And then, of course, the egg on the outside. But Rachael Ray's, wow. She had cheese and ham and bacon and turkey and cranberry sauce and mustard and maple syrup. Clark and I kept looking at each other and saying, "Really? And this is supposed to taste good?" We were not so crazy as she was, but it was still a break from the ordinary for us.

Another food-related tidbit: Wednesdays bring the Food section in the newspaper. I love this section. So imagine my dismay when I opened up Wednesday's paper and found the Salt Lake Tribune "Living" section in place of my Food section. NOOOOOOOOO!!!! I was distraught. The rest of the paper was the Deseret Morning News. I have no idea what the deal was, but I was not happy.

Feelin the Love

Clark already blogged about this, but I figured I should add my 2 bits on it. I have been feeling a bit under the weather lately, and Clark said to me, "What are you doing on Wednesday?" I told him nothing out of the usual, just the regular take a walk, work, make dinner, that sort of thing. So he says, "I think you should clear your schedule in the afternoon, and we'll go do something fun." I thought that was rather sweet, a little surprise adventure, if you will.

So he tells me on Wednesday at around 12:30 that he had been thinking that we should get a Jamba Juice, because I have been coming down with a cold, and everyone knows that a Jamba Juice can help fight the common cold. But there are no Jamba Juices in St George. So we'd have to go to Mesquite. And then, he says, while we are out, we should try and go up to Mountain Meadows, since we've been talking about doing that, and we have time today. And so we did. Again, what a sweet husband, thinking of something to help out his poor sick wife.

So we went, and it was fun. Of course, Clark already mentioned the vast difference in weather between the two places. He didn't mention that while we were driving between them we encountered a crazy thunderstorm, pouring rain, it was very cool. Warm, rainy, cold, and windy, we got them all in one afternoon. And it was really a good time, it was nice to see some of that stuff, say we've been there, and it was also nice to have my Caribbean Passion smoothie.

And I have one more "cute husband moment." I was feeling rather crummy last night, all stuffed up, and when I crawled into bed it got worse, couldn't breathe at all. So we are trying to think if we have anything I can take, and Clark decides that I could try some allergy medication, since it treats the same symptoms as a cold, and if nothing else it will knock me out and let me sleep. And so he climbs out of bed, and goes to find the drugs. There is all sorts of commotion, I can't figure out why he's making all this noise, and then it sounds like he is downstairs, and I'm thinking, um, the drugs are in the upstairs bathroom. But he had thought they were downstairs, and went to go fetch them. This is sweet and all, but then I realized why he had made all the noise - he couldn't walk very well due to his poor little leg, and it took a lot of effort for him to make it downstairs. How sweet is that? I felt very loved last night, yes indeed.