Make an Entrance

Oh wow. I absolutely have to share this video because it totally made my day. Seriously cool. I think the best part is the very beginning, when the music starts up. HA!

Library

Julia learned a new word the other day. I was talking about all the things we were going to do that day, and I mentioned we were going to the library, and then she said, "Library." It sounds more like, "Li-bree," but close enough. So later I got her to say it on video (after much prodding).

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kind of makes me feel like we're passing on the "Nerd Baton," so to speak, to the next generation.

Lacking

I haven't posted in a while. I wish I could say it was because I was off doing something amazingly fun, celebrating the 24th, going on vacation, and that there would be lots of pictures of our awesome adventures forthcoming.

But that would be a lie.

For the 24th of July we did. . . absolutely nothing. No, wait! I made a pound cake. A Pioneer Pound Cake. And it was delicious, maybe even worth having a hot house from keeping the oven on for over an hour. But Clark didn't have the day off work, we didn't go see any parades, no fireworks. Just a boring old day. In fact, probably worse than a boring day, as I was sick, and by the end of the day I had a bit of a meltdown. And who blogs about meltdowns?

Ok, I guess I just did. Whatever.

I swear, I have a point.

And that is: Sorry for the lack of blogging. I've got nothing. We are going out of town this weekend (for a fabulous wedding), so maybe after that I'll have a tale or two. But it's highly unlikely that you'll get a post before then.

Unless you can think of anything I should blog about.

Weekly Quote 7/27/09

"Service ever was their watchcry;
Love became their guiding star;
Courage, their unfailing beacon,
Radiating near and far."

That was, indeed, They the Builders of the Nation. A favorite of mine. New quote up!

Verdict

I know you've all been dying to know if I'm going to my HS reunion or not. The verdict is in: I'm not going. Basically, all the inconvenience added up. Two weeks in a row of driving to Salt Lake with a toddler. It's on my birthday. I have to teach in RS that Sunday (and the other teacher can't switch because she will be out of town). And it's $20 per person for a BBQ at a church. Plus the fact that I don't really know for certain who is going to be there, but I know a great many people who WON'T be there. It all adds up to the fact that I don't think it will be worth all the hassle involved. So. There you go. Part of me is sad, because there are a number of people that I really would love to see, but the rest of me is relieved.

On a completely different note, our garden has been producing lots and lots of yummy tomatoes. And I finally found a recipe to use up a bunch of them. Doesn't that sound delightful? If only we had actually planted our herb seeds, then I'd have fresh basil and parsley on hand as well.

Weekly Quote 7/20/09

"Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrive!"

We had to have part of the Marseillaise last week in honor of Bastille Day. And I'll have you know, for Bastille Day we had FRENCH toast with FRENCH bread (or should I say, FRONCH). How festive. I wanted to have something more spectacular like Madeleines or eclairs, but I couldn't find any. ANYWAY. New quote up!

EHS

My 10 year high school reunion is next month.

Part of me really wants to go, part of me really doesn't. We'll be in SLC the week before for Suzanne's wedding, so the thought of driving up 2 weeks in a row isn't very appealing. I still have no idea what we are actually DOING for this thing, or what the cost will be. And it's on my birthday.

Should I go? If you went to high school with me, are you going?

Julia, the Nut

Our Julia is keeping us laughing. For instance: We go to the library quite regularly, and it's fun for Julia to "pick out" a book to take home. This involves grabbing some random book off the shelf and then carrying it (by herself, thank you very much) to the check-out counter. So last week Clark comes home to find us reading Cock-A-Doodle Christmas. This was after I rejected her first choice, Mom and Dad Don't Live Together Anymore. Good grief.

Also, she's decided that, while she loves Mom more than anyone else (including Dad when he first comes home from work [poor Clark]), all her tickles are reserved for Dad. And she loves to dole out those tickles. Observe:

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Stupid Ol' Carts

Upon reading all the comments from my previous post, I made a few resolutions regarding summer:

1. There needs to be more water involved. Pools, splash pads, even the lake. More water. Which in turn leads to more sunscreen, but who cares, small price to pay for a way to cool down.
2. Get hiking. At cooler elevations, of course.
3. Eat more tomatoes. We have, dare I say, a plethora of tomatoes from our garden (some of which need to go to the Lowes). They are big and fat and juicy. Which leads me to the follow up question of: How do you eat your tomatoes?

But really, the purpose of this post was vent about something that has nothing to do with summer, and that is this:

Every single time I go to Albertsons, I have to go through about 7 shopping carts before I can find one that has an intact buckle for Julia, the little plastic thing for her to sit on, and no garbage in it. Every. Single. Time. COME ON! It's not the easiest thing in the world for a person to pull out multiple carts from the lineup, while holding a small child, in search of a merely functional cart. And the ones I end up with always, always, ALWAYS suck at turning. Or they squeak.

Drives me nuts.

Ahh, I feel much better now.

Is it fall yet?

Yesterday there were a bunch of dead leaves blowing into our yard, and I ached for autumn.

All you people who adore summer. . . . please remind me what is so good about it? I'm hot, and we've got a long ways to go before I don't want to take 3 showers a day due to all the sweat, we can go outside after 8am without yearning for the AC, and we can open the windows at night.

This is a serious request. What do you love about summer?

Weekly Quote 7/13/09

"It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it. "

Like I said, this was Robert E. Lee. New quote up!

The Story of the Cheese

There are some good, good people in the world.

This morning I went to Albertsons to pick up some cheese. ($5.49/2lbs + $1 off coupons + double coupons = $7 for 4 lbs of cheese. Awesome.) I was going to get some yesterday, but they were out. I even had a woman who works back there checking in the back for me, but alas, no luck. Actually, that was very lucky, because I had forgotten about the double coupons, so I figured I'd come in today and bring those bad boys.

When I got to the deli case, there was no cheese. Still. But there was a freaking huge pallet of stuff to be stocked. And the same woman was back there, she recognized me, and she told me to see if it was on the pallet and she'd get it out for me. I found the box and, of course, it was at the very bottom. So she went and got a very nice man to dig it out, I got my 2 blocks of cheese, and I headed to the front. Right there, that's 2 people who were so kind as to help me out when they really didn't have to.

About the time I got everything unloaded and ready, I realized that, being an idiot, I had left my wallet in my other purse. DOH! I had a checkbook with me, for some strange reason, but no ID. I tell the checker my plight. She tells me that we can try to run the check, and if it doesn't work, she'll suspend the transaction until I can come back with ID.

Lo and behold, the check requires ID.

So we suspend the transaction, and we're working it all out, when the lady behind me in line says, "Excuse me? Just put it on mine."

The checker explained that it wasn't that I didn't have money, it's just that I needed to run home and get it, and I was saying, "Oh, that's nice, but it's ok, thank you."

And she says, "You have a baby. It's been a while, but I know how hard it is to get a baby in and out of a car. I won't even notice it. Don't worry about it."

I can't thank that woman enough. It's not even just the fact that I got free cheese, and that I didn't have to go through the whole process of going home and coming back. She made me remember that even with our economy going to pot and terrible things happening left and right, there are still people out there who want to help make someone's day a little better.

When the situation arises, I fully intend to pay that forward. Because you can't put a price on how great that made me feel.

This and That

I know I haven't been the best blogger as of late. We've been rather busy. Here's a smattering of what we've been up to:

• I don't think I ever mentioned that I watch my neighbor's kid while she goes to work. It's only 4 hours a day (well, really it's more like 5), 4 days a week, but it keeps me plenty busy. He turns one this month, and is just starting to walk. Julia has decided in the past week or so that she CAN play with him, which is nice for me, they can entertain each other. Julia is delighted when he chases her around the house. Let's just hope she doesn't like boys to chase her in about 15 years.
• For the 4th, we decided that a hike in 60° weather sounded much better than sitting at home in 100° weather, so we headed up to Cedar Breaks for the day. (actually, this was on the 3rd, since Clark got that day off) We hiked around the rim, Julia wore a jacket (woo, jacket weather!), we saw a whole slew of wildflowers, and, of course, we saw the amazing red rock. Here's a "family photo" at the turn around point (don't mind Julia, she's sleeping):
• Clark and I finally finished watching The Civil War. Holy cow, that is a good film. Exceedingly well done. Yes, it is long, but guess what, the war was long, so deal with it. We checked it out from the library, disc by disc, so it probably took us over a month to watch, but it was worth it. I learned so many things about the battles, the generals, the people. Highly recommend it.
• I finally listened to my Radiowest podcast of a conversation with David McCullough. I haven't gotten around to reading any of his books yet (they're on the list!), but I did like his narration in the aforementioned documentary, so it was fun to hear what he had to say. One thing he said particularly stood out to me. He talked about the power of the individual. There are circumstances that are beyond our control and shape our lives, disease, war, natural disasters, etc, but it's easy to point to individuals who have made our lives distinctly different. And they might not be well known, but they have made a difference, even on a local level. That gave me pause, made me think. Couple that with something our RS president said yesterday about how we shouldn't be silent, we should stand up for what we believe in, and it makes me realize that I can, and should, be doing more to make my voice heard. Time to get to work!
• We've got zucchini coming out our ears! And now we've got tomatoes, too. Lots of 'maters. Which reminds me: Hey, Cheryl, we need to bring some tomatoes over!
  
• Julia is learning new things every day. Like how to jump (or how to pretend to jump). Here's a video:

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But seriously, she has all sorts of new words, and she is becoming a great little communicator. She full on asked for a "hot dog" today. And she is a good "Mama" to her doll, Maggie. She makes sure Maggie folds her arms for the prayer, she feeds her, she puts her to bed, and she tells her to walk. It's cute.

Weekly Quote 7/6/09

"This purchased rebellion has been outbidded,
denounced and rescinded and left to die championless."

That was some more Dashboard Confessional (The Good Fight). I just can't get over how incredibly awesome their lyrics are. Such good stuff. New quote up!

Lollipop

It's been a while since we last had a video, eh? Well, here's one from a week or so ago. Julia got a sucker AND a balloon from Harmons. What a lucky girl!

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